Cardiopulmonary resuscitation with interposed abdominal compression.

The addition of interposed abdominal compressions (IACs) to otherwise standard CPR enhances artificial circulation both in anesthetized dogs with ventricular fibrillation and in electrical models of the circulation that demonstrate fundamental mechanisms generating flow. Manual abdominal compressions cause both central aortic and central venous pressure pulses but, because of differences in venous and arterial capacitance, the former are usually greater than the latter. Thus mean perfusion pressure is enhanced. Limited clinical studies confirm that IAC-CPR can improve perfusion pressures in humans, and reported complications of the technique are rare in animals and man. However, no study has demonstrated that IAC-CPR improves either short- or long-term survival after cardiac arrest in man. Accordingly, the method remains experimental and cannot be recommended for basic life support at the present time.