Is mechanical CPR better than manual CPR >2007
Date First Published:
June 11, 2007
Last Updated:
September 2, 2015
Report by:
Dr Ali Murad and Dr Elizabeth Hayward, F2 (Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust)
Search checked by:
Dr Jasmeet Soar, Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust
Three-Part Question:
In [patients in cardiac arrest] is [mechanical CPR or standard manual CPR] more effective at achieving [survival to hospital discharge]?
Clinical Scenario:
A 56 year-old man suffers a witnessed out of hospital cardiac arrest. He is given immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). A paramedic ambulance crew arrives after 8 minutes. The first recorded cardiac rhythm shows ventricular fibrillation. The ambulance crew continue CPR in accordance with current Advanced Life Support guidelines. Initial resuscitation attempts including three defibrillation attempts fail. The paramedic team is equipped with and fully trained in the use of a mechanical CPR device and this is applied and the patient transferred to the nearest emergency department. You wonder whether mechanical CPR or manual CPR is more effective at achieving a restoration of spontaneous circulation and improving the patient's chances of leaving hospital alive.
Search Strategy:
Medline (between 1st January 1950 and 1st December 2007)
Embase (between 1980 and 1st December 2007)
CinAHL (between 1982 and 1st December 2007)
The Cochrane Library (Issue 4 2007)
Embase (between 1980 and 1st December 2007)
CinAHL (between 1982 and 1st December 2007)
The Cochrane Library (Issue 4 2007)
Search Details:
Medline, Embase, CinAHL: [mechanical.mp OR device.mp OR automated.mp OR LUCAS.mp or AUTOPULSE.mp] AND [chest compression.mp OR CPR.mp ) AND (exp asystole.mp OR cardiac adj arrest]
Cochrane: [Mechanical OR AUTOPULSE OR LUCAS] AND [chest compression OR CPR] AND [asystole OR cardiac arrest OR arrest]
Cochrane: [Mechanical OR AUTOPULSE OR LUCAS] AND [chest compression OR CPR] AND [asystole OR cardiac arrest OR arrest]
Outcome:
The search found 429 articles in the Medline, Embase and CinAHL databases. Excluding case studies, 9 of these articles were relevant to this investigation and were analysed further.
Searching the Cochrane Library identified 15 articles, 5 of which were relevant to this investigation. All 5 of these articles had been identified by the previous search.
Eight out of the 9 studies analysed used either the AutoPulse Resuscitation System or the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System (LUCAS) as a mechanical CPR device
Searching the Cochrane Library identified 15 articles, 5 of which were relevant to this investigation. All 5 of these articles had been identified by the previous search.
Eight out of the 9 studies analysed used either the AutoPulse Resuscitation System or the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System (LUCAS) as a mechanical CPR device
Relevant Paper(s):
| Study Title | Patient Group | Study type (level of evidence) | Outcomes | Key results | Study Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical consequences of the introduction of mechanical chest compression in the EMS system for treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest—A pilot study. Axelsson, C., Nestin, J., Svensson, L., Axelsson, Å. & Herlitz, J. 2006, Sweden | 328 patients suffering from cardiac arrest (159 LUCAS vs 169 to manual CPR) | Prospective, multicenter, cluster randomised trial | Return of spontaneous circulation | 51% vs 51% | LUCAS device used in only 66% of cases randomised to mechanical group Numerous exclusion criteria |
| Hospital admission alive | 38% vs 37% | ||||
| The impact of a new CPR assist device on rate of return of spontaneous circulation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Casner, M., Andersen, D. & Isaacs, S. 2005, USA | 162 patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated by San Francisco Fire Department (69 AutoPulse vs 93 manual) | Case match using retrospective chart review | Patient arrival to emergency department with sustained ROSC determined by measurable non-invasive blood pressure | 39% vs 29% (p=0.003) | Subjective endpoint No matching for other morbidities No information about personnel training in use of AutoPulse device No measure of effectiveness of manual CPR AutoPulse only deployed with late responders |
| Effectiveness of mechanical versus manual chest compressions in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation: A pilot study. Dickinson, E., Verdile, V., Schneider, R. & Salluzzo, R. 1996, USA | 20 patients suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (10 Thumper vs 10 to manual CPR) | Prospective, randomised trial | Decrease in ETCO2 from 5 minutes after starting CPR to initiation of patient transfer to hospital | 0 vs 8 (p<0.04) | Questionable clinical significance (no survivors) Odd/even day randomisation t 30% of patients excluded from mechanical CPR group (2 machine failure, 1 extubated) |
| Manual Chest Compression vs Use of an Automated Chest Compression Device During Resuscitation Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Trial. Hallstrom, A., Rea, T. D., Sayre, M. R., Christenson, J., Anton, A. R., Mosesso Jr, V. N., Van Ottingham, L., Olsufka, M., Pennington, S. & White, L. J. 2006, USA & Canada | 1071 patients suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (554 AutoPulse vs 517 manual CPR) | Prospective multicentre, cluster-randomised trial | Survival to 4 hours post emergency call | 28.5% vs 29.5% (p=0.74) | Study stopped following first planned interim monitoring No information on quality of manual chest compressions Longer time (2.1 minutes longer) from 911 call to first shock in VF/VT patients in AutoPulse group |
| Survival to hospital discharge | 5.8% vs 9.9% (p=0.06 after adjustment) | ||||
| Cerebral performance category of 1 or 2 at hospital discharge | 3.1% vs 7.5% (p=0.006) | ||||
| Out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the AutoPulse™ system: A prospective observational study with a new load-distributing band chest compression device. Krep, H., Mamier, M., Breil, M., Heister, U., Fischer, M. & Hoeft, A. 2007, Germany | 46 patients suffering from out of hospital cardiac arrest treated with AutoPulse | Prospective observational case series | Return of spontaneous circulation | 39.10% | No comparison group Mixture of bystander CPR and no bystander CPR 3 cases AutoPulse CPR considered insufficient and replaced with manual CPR |
| Cardiac arrest with continuous mechanical chest compression during percutaneous coronary intervention A report on the use of the LUCAS device. Larsen, A. I., Hjornevik, A. S., Ellingsen, C. L. & Nilsen, D. W. 2007, Norway | 13 patients receiving concomitant CPR (for cardiac arrest or severe hypotension and bradycardia) using LUCAS and coronary intervention | Case series | Mean systolic blood pressure | 81±23 mmHg | Mixture of patients with cardiac arrests and hypotension and bradycardia Only 3 patients survived procedure and none discharged from hospital |
| Mean diastolic blood pressure | 34±21 mm Hg | ||||
| Use of an Automated, Load-Distributing Band Chest Compression Device for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation. Ong, M. E. H., Ornato, J. P., Edwards, D. P., Dhindsa, H. S., Best, A. M., Ines, C. S., Hickey, S., Clark, B., Williams, D. C. & Powell, R. G. 2006, USA | 783 patients suffering from out-of-hospital non-traumatic arrest (284 AutoPulse vs 499 manual) | Observational cohort study with intention-to-treat analysis | Return of spontaneous circulation | 34.5% vs 20.2% | Only 210 patients out of the 284 patients in mechanical CPR group received mechanical CPR Faster initial response time in mechanical CPR group (mean 26 seconds faster) |
| Survival to hospital admission | 20.9% vs 11.1% | ||||
| Survival to hospital discharge | 9.7% vs 2.9% | ||||
| Treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with LUCAS, a new device for automatic mechanical compression and active decompression resuscitation. Steen, S., Sjöberg, T., Olsson, P. & Young, M. 2005, Sweden | 100 patients suffering from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated with LUCAS | Case series | Return of spontaneous circulation | 31% | No comparison group |
| Survival after 30 days | 7% | ||||
| Improved hemodynamic performance with a novel chest compression device during treatment of in-hospital cardiac arrest. Timerman, S., Cardoso, L. F., Ramires, J. A. & Halperin, H. 2004, Brazil and USA | 31 patients suffering in-hospital cardiac arrest. Subjects included following 10 mins of failed standard ALS. Received alternating manual CPR (100 compressions/min) and AutoPulse CPR (60 compressions/min) for 90 secs each. |
Case series | Peak aortic pressure (mmHg) | 153±28 mmHg vs 115±42 mmHgv | Usable pressure signals present in only 16 patients Differing rates of compression No analysis of clinical outcome |
| Peak right atrial pressure | 129±32 mmHg vs 83±40 mmHg | ||||
| Coronary perfusion pressure | 20±23 mmHg vs 15±11 mmHg |
Author Commentary:
There is strong evidence that good quality CPR improves outcome following cardiac arrest. Providing good quality CPR for long periods of time or during the transport of patients may be difficult. Mechanical CPR devices have the potential to overcome these problems. The two most commonly used mechanical CPR devices are the AutoPulse Resuscitation System and the LUCAS.
Trials comparing mechanical and manual CPR vary widely in quality and often study different patient groups, mechanical CPR devices and protocols. As of yet, no trial has attempted to compensate for the Hawthorne effect on provision of manual CPR. Searching the ClinicalTrials.gov database in January 2008 identified one new ongoing studies comparing mechanical (AutoPulse) and manual CPR (NCT00597207).
Trials comparing mechanical and manual CPR vary widely in quality and often study different patient groups, mechanical CPR devices and protocols. As of yet, no trial has attempted to compensate for the Hawthorne effect on provision of manual CPR. Searching the ClinicalTrials.gov database in January 2008 identified one new ongoing studies comparing mechanical (AutoPulse) and manual CPR (NCT00597207).
Bottom Line:
There is currently no evidence supporting the routine use of mechanical CPR devices for patients suffering out of hospital cardiac arrest.
References:
- Axelsson, C., Nestin, J., Svensson, L., Axelsson, Å. & Herlitz, J.. Clinical consequences of the introduction of mechanical chest compression in the EMS system for treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest—A pilot study.
- Casner, M., Andersen, D. & Isaacs, S.. The impact of a new CPR assist device on rate of return of spontaneous circulation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
- Dickinson, E., Verdile, V., Schneider, R. & Salluzzo, R.. Effectiveness of mechanical versus manual chest compressions in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation: A pilot study.
- Hallstrom, A., Rea, T. D., Sayre, M. R., Christenson, J., Anton, A. R., Mosesso Jr, V. N., Van Ottingham, L., Olsufka, M., Pennington, S. & White, L. J.. Manual Chest Compression vs Use of an Automated Chest Compression Device During Resuscitation Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Trial.
- Krep, H., Mamier, M., Breil, M., Heister, U., Fischer, M. & Hoeft, A.. Out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the AutoPulse™ system: A prospective observational study with a new load-distributing band chest compression device.
- Larsen, A. I., Hjornevik, A. S., Ellingsen, C. L. & Nilsen, D. W.. Cardiac arrest with continuous mechanical chest compression during percutaneous coronary intervention A report on the use of the LUCAS device.
- Ong, M. E. H., Ornato, J. P., Edwards, D. P., Dhindsa, H. S., Best, A. M., Ines, C. S., Hickey, S., Clark, B., Williams, D. C. & Powell, R. G.. Use of an Automated, Load-Distributing Band Chest Compression Device for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation.
- Steen, S., Sjöberg, T., Olsson, P. & Young, M.. Treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with LUCAS, a new device for automatic mechanical compression and active decompression resuscitation.
- Timerman, S., Cardoso, L. F., Ramires, J. A. & Halperin, H.. Improved hemodynamic performance with a novel chest compression device during treatment of in-hospital cardiac arrest.