Thoracic injuries associated with mechanical chest compressions - a pilot study

Abstract

Mechanical chest compression devices provide an alternative to manual CPR but may cause serious injuries. This was a prospective study including nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) from January 1st to April 30th, 2010.

The study aimed to compare injuries caused by the AutoPulse (A-CPR), LUCAS II (L-CPR), and manual CPR (M-CPR) respectively.

Keywords

• cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• mechanical chest compression device
• iatrogenic injury
• LUCAS
• AutoPulse