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Interposed Abdominal Compression-Cpr: A Case Study In Cardiac Arrest Research, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

When the abdomen is compressed manually in counterpoint to the rhythm of chest compression, in the performance of interposed abdominal compression-CPR, artificial circulation is approximately doubled in animal experiments and in electronic models of the circulatory system. These studies suggest that external manual compression of the abdominal aorta acts like an intra-aortic balloon pump to increase aortic pressure, whereas external manual compression of the abdominal veins acts to prime the right heart and pulmonary vessels before the next chest compression. As a result, perfusion pressures and flows are increased. Several clinical studies of this technique have shown promising results, including …