• Soo Hoon Lee, Dong Hoon Kim, Tae-Sin Kang, Changwoo Kang, Jin Hee Jeong, Seong Chun Kim, and Dong Seob Kim.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-Do, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ssoon0702@naver.com.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2015 Aug 1;33(8):1037-41.

ObjectiveThis study was conducted to evaluate the appropriateness of the chest compression (CC) depth recommended in the current guidelines and simulated external CCs, and to characterize the optimal CC depth for an adult by body mass index (BMI).MethodsAdult patients who underwent chest computed tomography as a screening test for latent pulmonary diseases in the health care center were enrolled in this study. We calculated the internal anteroposterior (AP) diameter (IAPD) and external AP diameter (EAPD) of the chest across BMIs (<18.50, 18.50-24.99, 25.00-29.99, and ≥30.00 kg/m(2)) for simulated CC depth. We also calculated the residual chest depths less than 20 mm for simulated CC depth.ResultsThere was a statistically significant difference in the chest EAPD and IAPD measured at the lower half of the sternum for each BMI groups (EAPD: R(2) = 0.638, P < .001; IAPD: R(2) = 0.297, P < .001). For one-half external AP CC, 100% of the patients, regardless of BMI, had a calculated residual internal chest depth less than 20 mm. For one-fourth external AP CC, no patients had a calculated residual internal chest depth less than 20 mm. For one-third external AP CC, only 6.48% of the patients had a calculated residual internal chest depth less than 20 mm.ConclusionsIt is not appropriate that the current CC depth (≥50 mm), expressed only as absolute measurement without a fraction of the depth of the chest, is applied uniformly in all adults. In addition, in terms of safety and efficacy, simulated CC targeting approximately between one-third and one-fourth EAPD CC depth might be appropriate.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

20 keywords...

hide…