Compression-Only CPR Best for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

(HealthDay News) – Among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who receive shocks with public-access defibrillation, compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is more effective than conventional CPR, according to a study published online Dec. 10 in Circulation.

Taku Iwami, MD, MPH, PhD, from the Kyoto University Health Service in Japan, and colleagues conducted a nationwide, prospective observational study involving 1,376 consecutive out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who received resuscitation and shocks with public-access automated external defibrillation by bystanders from 2005–2009.

The researchers found that 36.8% of patients received chest compression-only CPR and 63.2% received conventional CPR with compressions and rescue breathing. There was a significantly higher rate of neurologically favorable one-month survival among the chest compression-only CPR group (40.7%) compared with the conventional CPR group (32.9%; adjusted odds ratio, 1.33).

“Compression-only CPR is more effective than conventional CPR for patients in whom out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is witnessed and shocked with public-access defibrillation,” the authors write.

Abstract
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