26 Nov Mechanical compression devices do not improve survival rates, study says
Sten Rubertsson, M.D., Ph.D., of Uppsala University, Sweden and colleagues assessed whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in which chest compressions are delivered with a mechanical device would result in superior 4-hour survival in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared to CPR with manual chest compression.
This multicenter clinical trial, which included 2,589 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, was conducted between January 2008 and February 2013 in 4 Swedish, 1 British, and 1 Dutch ambulance services and their referring hospitals.
Four-hour survival was achieved in 307 patients (23.6 percent) with mechanical CPR and 305 (23.7 percent) with manual CPR. Among patients surviving at 6 months, 99 percent in the mechanical CPR group and 94 percent in the manual CPR group had good neurological outcomes.
“In patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, mechanical chest compressions in combination with defibrillation during ongoing compressions provided no improved 4-hour survival vs. manual CPR according to guidelines.