Presence of chest tubes does not affect the hemodynamic efficacy of standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Background: During cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), chest tubes can hinder increases in intrathoracic pressure by venting the pressure during chest compressions, thus reducing the blood flow generated by the thoracic pump effect. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of chest tubes on hemodynamic efficacy during standard CPR in a swine model of cardiac arrest.

Methods: Twelve domestic male pigs weighing 39.6 ± 8.4 kg underwent bilateral tube thoracostomy and received a total of 12 min of standard manual CPR, which comprised of two 6-min courses of CPR after 2 min of electrically induced ventricular fibrillation. Each 6-min set consisted of 3 min of CPR with clamped chest tubes (CCT-CPR) and 3 min of CPR with unclamped chest tubes (UCT-CPR). The sequence of CCT-CPR and UCT-CPR was randomized.

Results: Hemodynamic parameters including aortic pressure, left ventricular pressure, right ventricular pressure, right atrial pressure, and minimal and maximal dp/dt did not differ significantly between CCT-CPR and UCT-CPR. No significant differences were noted in carotid blood flow, end-tidal CO, or coronary perfusion pressure between CCT-CPR and UCT-CPR.

Conclusions: The presence of chest tubes did not affect the hemodynamic efficacy of standard CPR. There is no need to clamp chest tubes during standard CPR.