Ruptured AAA. Just when you think you've seen it all.

[sevoflurane]

So... 80 y/o guy comes into the ED last night with a ruptured AAA. Codes in the ED, big line placed, blood hung, etc, etc. As he comes to the OR, a new device I've never even heard of before is being utilized succesfully:

Apparently it is just as good or better than human chest compressions.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sevoflurane]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAz0suSEL7w[/YOUTUBE]

 

[FiremedicMike]

The Zoll autopulse showed a lot of promise when it first came out. Utilizing a band that went around and compressed the entire chest wall, it promised better contraction of the heart with more volume pumped each stroke. We actually managed to get it as a trial at the FD several years ago when it came out, and while it worked fantastic on the dummy in training, in practice on real patients in their homes it tended to slip up or down and move all over the place on the patient.

Granted this was several years ago, and I'm seeing them advertised again, so they may have changed the design a bit.

I've never heard of the above device you listed, I'm going to have to look in to it (although I imagine the same issues will come up for us)

 

[Ronin2258]

I thought these things went by the wayside a decade or so ago...

 

[jwk]

Haha - this wasn't the first device like this. 30 years ago we had one called the "Thumper".

 

[Curious Biff]

Haha - this wasn't the first device like this. 30 years ago we had one called the "Thumper".

I remember that. It was discontinued, IIRC, after a lot of patients suffered massive liver injuries after it was (routinely) applied inappropriately.

Biff

 

[urge]

An EMS company over here delivers their dead patients to our ER with a similar device. I'm ambivalent on it. Might be a good thing, but I'm sure it is easy to screw up and delay cpr playing with that thing.

 

[drccw]

hopefully that thing wasn't still going when you brought the patient to the OR. Our surgeons have a policy- no pulse (ie active chest compressions)= no go to OR.

drccw

 

[DreamLover]

So... 80 y/o guy comes into the ED last night with a ruptured AAA. Codes in the ED, big line placed, blood hung, etc, etc. As he comes to the OR, a new device I've never even heard of before is being utilized succesfully:

Apparently it is just as good or better than human chest compressions.

That silly docudrama on Thursday nights "Boston Med" showed a guy coming into their ER with this thing pumping away on last week's episode I think....we don't use it in our trauma bay...I can see how it could be harmful if not correctly placed though