Cardiac arrest: pneumatic trousers had no clear effect. | 
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Mahoney and Mirick:
Annals of Emergency Medicine
1983;
12:
8-12
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Expires October 2003 | |
The study
Unblinded ?concealed randomised trial with intention-to-treatSetting: out-of-hospital, USA
136 patients (aged mean 67 years, 73% male) In cardiac arrest of apparent cardiac aetiology, and not coming out of arrest after specific therapy protocols (refractory). The protocols were defibrillation twice followed by bicarbonate and epinephrine and defibrillation again; or CPR followed by bicarbonate and epinephrine.
Control Group: (n = 70, 70 analysed): no pneumatic trousers
Experimental Group: (n = 66, 66 analysed): pneumatic trousers inflated to the full pressure of 104 mmHg
Any additional therapy was given at the discretion of the physician controlling the therapy, according to American Heart Association guidelines.
100% followed for ? weeks
Outcome notes:
- survival : discharge from hospital alive
- resuscitation : admission from the emergency department to the coronary care unit
The evidence
| Outcome | Time to outcome | CER | EER | RRR (95% CI) | ARR (95% CI) | NNT (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| survival | unknown | 3 (4.29%) |
6 (9.09%) |
5% (-4% to 13%) |
4.81% (-3.60% to 13.21%) |
21 (NNT = 8 to infinity; NNH = 28 to infinity) |
| resuscitation | unknown | 15 (21.4%) |
22 (33.3%) |
15% (-5% to 31%) |
11.9% (-2.99% to 26.80%) |
8 (NNT = 4 to infinity; NNH = 33 to infinity) |
Comments
- The trial was too small to show any clear difference in survival or resuscitation between the two groups.
Citation
- Mahoney BD, and Mirick MJ: Efficacy of pneumatic trousers in refractory prehospital cardiopulmonary arrest. Annals of Emergency Medicine 1983; 12: 8-12
Reviewer:
Clinical Question.
| Patient | refractory prehospital cardiac arrest |
| Intervention or Exposure | pneumatic trousers |
| Comparison | no pneumatic trousers |
| Outcome | mortality |
