Cardiopulmonary resuscitation with simultaneous chest and abdominal compression: comparative study in humans

To assess the efficacy of the simultaneous application of chest and abdominal compression (SCAC) in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), we performed a prospective study on 18 patients shortly after cardiac arrest. Three different CPR procedures were carried out consecutively: (1) Standard CPR; (2) CPR interposed with abdominal compression (IAC-CPR); and (3) SCAC-CPR. Standard CPR was repeated at the end of each sequence. Thoracic aortic and right atrial pressures were recorded during maneuvers and no vasoactive drugs were administered. Systolic aortic pressures were 39.02 +/- 21 mmHg, 63.6 +/- 21 mmHg and 94.04 +/- 21 mmHg during standard CPR, IAC-CPR and SCAC-CPR, respectively (P less than 0.001). There was no evidence of intra-abdominal injury in the eight autopsies performed. We have reached the conclusion that the use of SCAC-CPR on humans does produce greater intravascular pressure and we recommend this technique as a possible alternative to standard CPR.