A randomized clinical trial of active compression-decompression CPR vs standard CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in two cities.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of active compression-decompression (ACD) cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with a handheld suction device vs standard manual CPR in victims of out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest.


METHODS
Prospective randomized clinical trial with crossover group design.


METHODS
Emergency medical services (EMS) of a large (San Francisco) and medium-sized (Fresno) city in California.


METHODS
All normothermic adult victims of out-of-hospital, nontraumatic cardiac arrest on whom CPR was performed by first responders.


METHODS
Patients were randomized to receive either standard manual CPR according to American Heart Association guidelines or ACD CPR, on first-responder contact.


METHODS
Return of spontaneous circulation, admission to the intensive care unit, survival to hospital discharge, and neurological function at hospital discharge.


RESULTS
The ACD group (n = 117 in Fresno; n = 297 in San Francisco) and standard group (n = 136 in Fresno; n = 310 in San Francisco) were similar with regard to demographic and prognostic variables, such as age, witnessed arrest and bystander CPR frequency, and initial cardiac rhythm. Average interval from 911 call activation to EMS responder arrival was 6.4 minutes in Fresno and 4.0 minutes in San Francisco. In Fresno, there was no difference between the ACD group and standard CPR group in return of spontaneous circulation (17% vs 20%; P = .68), hospital admission (16% vs 20%; P = .56), hospital discharge (5% vs 7%; P = .64), or cerebral performance category score at discharge (1.5 vs 1.6; P = .90). Similarly, in San Francisco there was no difference between the ACD group and standard CPR group in return of spontaneous circulation (19% vs 21%; P = .65), hospital admission (13.5% vs 14.5%; P = .79), hospital discharge (4.7% vs 5.5%; P = .80), or cerebral performance category score at discharge (2.2 vs 2.6; P = .31). There was no increase in significant complications associated with the use of ACD CPR.


CONCLUSIONS
There was no improvement in outcome with ACD CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in these two cities. Differences in study design, demographics, EMS systems, response intervals, training, and technique performance may contribute to the lack of improvement in initial resuscitation with ACD CPR compared with previous studies. Future research needs to control these variables to determine the reason for these differences in outcome.
Schwab
T M
TM
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Callaham
M L
ML
Madsen
C D
CD
Utecht
T A
TA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002140:California; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000379:methods*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012495:San Francisco; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014505:Urban Population