Point-of-Care Ultrasound Pulse Checks During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on a Patient Simulator (PUPRAS)

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Critical Care
• Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Background:

• Detecting return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is critical.
• Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may offer a more reliable method for ROSC detection compared to manual pulse checks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the feasibility and compliance of a POCUS pulse check algorithm with CPR guidelines.
• To compare the reliability and time efficiency of POCUS versus manual pulse checks for ROSC detection.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, controlled, blinded, multicentre manikin study.
• Evaluation of a standard operating procedure for POCUS pulse checks during simulated CPR.
• Comparison of manual and POCUS pulse checks performed by diverse medical personnel.

Main Results:

• POCUS pulse checks were faster (6.1s) than manual checks (7.3s; p < 0.01).
• 77% of participants found POCUS pulse checks easy to perform, and 94% found them useful.
• POCUS pulse checks were performed during the fourth rhythm analysis in 93% of scenarios.

Conclusions:

• POCUS pulse checks are feasible and easy to implement during CPR.
• The POCUS pulse check algorithm appears to be compliant with CPR guidelines for detecting ROSC.