Compression-only vs standard CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

January 01, 0001

Compression-only vs standard CPR in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Emergency medical dispatchers give instructions on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) over the telephone to callers requesting help for a patient with suspected cardiac arrest, before the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel. The aim of this prospective, randomized study by Swedish investigators was to evaluate the possible superiority of compression-only CPR over standard CPR with respect to survival. Patients with suspected, witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were randomly assigned to undergo either compression-only CPR or standard CPR.

They found: "Data for the primary analysis were collected from February 2005 through January 2009 for a total of 1276 patients. Of these, 620 patients had been assigned to receive compression-only CPR and 656 patients had been assigned to receive standard CPR. The rate of 30-day survival was similar in the two groups: 8.7% (54 of 620 patients) in the group receiving compression-only CPR and 7.0% (46 of 656 patients) in the group receiving standard CPR."

The authors concluded: "This prospective, randomized study showed no significant difference with respect to survival at 30 days between instructions given by an emergency medical dispatcher, before the arrival of EMS personnel, for compression-only CPR and instructions for standard CPR in patients with suspected, witnessed, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest."

This study provides evidence that compression-only CPR is as good as standard CPR.


For the full abstract, click here.

N Engl J Med 363:434-442, 29 July 2010 © 2010 to the Massachusetts Medical Society
Compression-Only CPR or Standard CPR in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Leif Svensson, Katarina Bohm, Maaret Castrèn, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Svensson: [email protected].

Category: K. Circulatory. Keywords: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, cardiac arrest, out-of- hospital, emergency medical services, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 17 August 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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