External cardiac compression. A randomized comparison of mechanical and manual techniques

Abstract

To compare the effectiveness of manual and mechanical chest compression during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, 50 patients who suffered cardiac arrest were randomly allocated to receive manual or mechanical chest compression. Randomization was performed after failure of initial resuscitative measures but within 10 min after failure of initial resuscitative measures but within 10 min after the onset of cardiac arrest (mean, 6.4 .+-. 1.2 min). Patients 10 from each group survived longer than 1 h following resuscitation. Patients (3) from the mechanical group and 2 from the manual group were eventually able to leave the hospital. Mechanical compression appears comparable with manual compression when manual compression is performed under ideal conditions. Mechanical chest compression may be employed when trained personnel are not readily available or where manual compression is technically difficult to perform.