Acute bag-valve breathing maneuvers plus manual chest compression is safe during stable septic shock: a randomized...

To evaluate the effects of bag-valve breathing maneuvers combined with standard manual chest compression techniques on safety, hemodynamics and oxygenation in stable septic shock patients.

A parallel, assessor-blinded, randomized trial of two groups. A computer-generated list of random numbers was prepared by an independent researcher to allocate treatments.

The Intensive Care Unit at Hospital São Lucas, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul.

Fifty-two subjects were assessed for eligibility, and 32 were included. All included subjects (n = 32) received the allocated intervention (n = 19 for the Experimental Group and n = 13 for the Control Group).

Twenty minutes of bag-valve breathing maneuvers combined with manual chest compression techniques (Experimental Group) or chest compression, as routinely used at our intensive care unit (Control Group). Follow-up was performed immediately after and at 30 minutes after the intervention.

Mean artery pressure.

All included subjects completed the trial (N = 32). We found no relevant effects on mean artery pressure (p = 0.17), heart rate (p = 0.50) or mean pulmonary artery pressure (p = 0.89) after adjusting for subject age and weight. Both groups were identical regarding oxygen consumption after the data adjustment (p = 0.84). Peripheral oxygen saturation tended to increase over time in both groups (p = 0.05), and there was no significant association between cardiac output and venous oxygen saturation (p = 0.813). No clinical deterioration was observed.

A single session of bag-valve breathing maneuvers combined with manual chest compression is hemodynamically safe for stable septic-shocked subjects over the short-term.