Chest compressions in cardiopulmonary resuscitation are of utmost importance although not without a risk. Many injuries are described but the incidence of these is hard to define due to methodological differences. It is strenuous to perform chest compressions and therefore mechanical chest compressions have been looked upon with interest. This thesis presents new insights on the panorama and incidence of injuries in modern CPR and a comparison of safety and efficacy between manual chest compressions and mechanical chest compressions with the LUCAS™ device. We also evaluated if computed tomography could be an aid in the detection of these injuries. Two pilot trials were conducted and one presented no difference in early survival with 26% and 31% having return of spontaneous circulation when comparing manual chest compressions with the LUCAS device in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The other revealed no difference in autopsy-detected injuries. A third multicentre autopsy trial revealed that in patients treated with manual chest compressions 78.3% had at least one injury and 63.9% had at least one rib fracture. The corresponding numbers for patients treated with the LUCAS device was 92.8% (p = 0.002) and 77.7% (p=0.022). Sternal fractures occurred in 54.2% and in 58.3% of the cases treated with manual chest compressions and the LUCAS device respectively (p = 0.556). The median number of rib fractures was 7 in the group receiving manual chest compressions and 6 in the group receiving chest compressions with the LUCAS device. In 31 cases a computed tomography was conducted prior to autopsy and we found a very strong correlation in the discrimination of patients with or without rib fractures (kappa=0.83). Mean difference between the two methods in detecting rib fractures was 0.16. The detection of other injuries did not have a strong correlation. In conclusion there is no difference in early survival between the two methods and mechanical chest compressions adds 14-15% more patients with rib fractures but the amount of rib fractures, sternal fractures and other injuries is equal. CT can aid but not replace autopsies in the detection of these injuries.

Nationellt drabbas varje år flera tusentals människor av hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus. För att öka chansen till överlevnad hos dessa individer är snabbt påbörjad hjärt-lungräddning av god kvalité av största vikt. Då det är fysiskt ansträngande att utföra hjärt-lungräddning, samt under vissa omständigheter svårt att utföra med bibehållen effektivitet och kvalité, har apparater som kan ge mekaniska bröstkompressioner utvecklats. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka resultat mekaniska bröstkompressioner har vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus. Metod: Studien genomfördes som en allmän litteraturöversikt med en induktiv ansats. Efter kvalitetsgranskning inkluderades totalt 16 vetenskapliga artiklar där majoriteten var kvantitativa studier. Artiklarna inhämtades från databaserna PubMed och CINAHL. Databearbetning genomfördes utifrån en integrerad analys där teman identifierades. Resultat: Den integrerade analysen resulterade i fyra teman; överlevnad, återkomst av spontan cirkulation [ROSC], neurologisk funktion och övriga resultat. Ingen skillnad kunde ses i överlevnad och neurologisk funktion mellan mekaniska bröstkompressioner och manuella bröstkompressioner. Snarare ses en tendens till sämre överlevnad och sämre neurologisk funktion vid användning av mekaniska bröstkompressioner. I övrigt noteras förlängd tid till första defibrillering vid användning av mekaniska bröstkompressioner. Slutsats: De granskade studierna visade att användandet av mekaniska bröstkompressioner vid hjärtstopp utanför sjukhus inte har någon uppenbar fördel gällande överlevnad och neurologisk funktion jämfört med manuella bröstkompressioner. / Nationally, several thousands of people suffer from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year. In order to increase the chance of survival in these individuals, cardiac resuscitation of good quality is of the utmost importance. Since it is physically strenuous to perform cardiac resuscitation, and in some circumstances difficult to perform with maintained efficiency and quality, devices that can provide mechanical chest compressions have been developed. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the results of mechanical chest compressions on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Method: The study was conducted as a general literature review with an inductive approach. After quality review, a total of 16 scientific articles were included, the majority of which were quantitative studies. The articles were obtained from the PubMed and CINAHL databases. Data processing was performed on the basis of an integrated analysis where themes were identified. Results: The integrated analysis resulted in four themes; survival, return of spontaneous circulation [ROSC], neurological function and other results. No difference was seen in survival and neurological function between mechanical chest compressions and manual chest compressions. Rather, there is a tendency towards poorer survival and poorer neurological function when using mechanical chest compressions. Otherwise, extended time to first defibrillation is noted when using mechanical chest compressions. Conclusion: The studies reviewed showed that the use of mechanical chest compressions in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has no apparent benefit on survival and neurological function compared to manual chest compressions.