Resuscitation
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Chest compression (CC) research primarily focuses on finding the 'optimum' compression waveform using a variety of compression efficacy metrics. Blood flow is rarely measured systematically with high fidelity. Using a programmable mechanical chest compression device, we studied the effect of inter-compression pauses in a swine model of cardiac arrest, testing the hypothesis that a single 'optimal' CC waveform exists based on measurements of resulting blood flow. ⋯ This data challenges the concept of a single optimal CC waveform. Time dependent physiological response to compressions and no single compression waveform optimizing flow in all vessels indicate that current descriptions of CPR don't reflect patient physiology.