Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a method used to restore perfusion and oxygenation in patients who do not have spontaneous circulation. A recent study was conducted in the Netherlands to evaluate the effectiveness of extracorporeal CPR compared to conventional CPR in patients with refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The study enrolled 160 patients between 18 and 70 years of age who had received bystander CPR and had an initial ventricular arrhythmia but did not have a return of spontaneous circulation within 15 minutes.
The results of the study showed that 20% of patients who received extracorporeal CPR were alive with a favorable neurologic outcome at 30 days, compared to 16% of patients who received conventional CPR. The odds ratio for survival with a favorable neurologic outcome was 1.4, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.5 to 3.5 and a P value of 0.52. The number of serious adverse events was similar in both groups.
In conclusion, the study found that extracorporeal CPR and conventional CPR had similar effects on survival with a favorable neurologic outcome in patients with refractory out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The results indicate that extracorporeal CPR may not be superior to conventional CPR in these patients, and further research is needed to determine the optimal treatment strategy.