Resident Physician Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Background: Mechanical chest compression (MCC) devices are commonly used to facilitate chest compressions in adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The advantages of MCC device use include freeing emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians and other responders from the “compressor” role to perform other critical tasks and decreasing risk of infectious exposure during manual chest compressions. There are few studies on the use of MCC devices in children, namely case reports and simulation-based studies with limited generalizability. Manufacturer guidelines for MCC devices do not provide pediatric-specific recommendations or settings, i.e. compression-to-ventilation ratios or compression depth. Despite this, MCC devices are being used in pediatric-aged patients, especially if the patient appears “adult-sized.” Objective: The aims of this study are to describe the use of MCC devices in children with OHCA using a national database and to assess impacts on pediatric patient outcomes. Design/Methods: We will perform a retrospective cohort study of children (1-18 years) with OHCA using a national database. The main study outcome will be use of MCC devices in children with OHCA. Secondary outcomes will be return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and patient survival, including neurologically favorable survival. We will perform descriptive analyses of MCC use over time and compare cardiopulmonary resuscitation and patient outcomes for MCC versus manual compressions. We will tabulate summaries and test the association between MCC device use and factors of interest.
This study was granted IRB exempt status. We anticipate data analysis to begin by November 2023 and take about 8-12 weeks, after which we will begin manuscript preparation.
