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Due to many technological advances, doctors rely heavily on machines when it comes to treating patients. In a new study headed by Sten Rubertsson, MD, PhD from Uppsala University in Sweden, Rubertsson and colleagues compared chest compressions via a mechanical device to chest compressions done manually. The team focused on the four-hour survival rate for patients who suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The researchers headed the multicenter clinical trial, which recruited 2,589 patients. The trial was conducted between January 2008 and February 2013. The patients had endured an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and were treated in four Swedish, one British and one Dutch ambulance services and the services' respective hospitals. The patients were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment options. 1,300 of the patients received chest compressions from a mechanical device combined with defibrillation and 1, 289 patients received standard manual CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). The study involved a six-month follow up.

"Many factors affect the chances of survival after cardiac arrest, including early recognition of arrest, effective CPR and defibrillation, and postresuscitation care. One important link is the delivery of high-quality chest compressions to achieve restoration of spontaneous circulation," the authors stated. "The effectiveness of manual chest compressions depends on the endurance and skills of rescuers, and manual compressions provide only approximately 30 percent of normal cardiac output."

The researchers calculated that for the group of patients who received mechanical help, 307 of them, or 23.6 percent survived four hours after getting care. In the group that had manual CPR, 305 of them or 23.7 percent, achieved the four-hour survival rate the researchers were focused on. When the team looked at patients who survived six months after their cardiac arrest, they found that 99 percent of the people in the mechanical device group and 94 percent of the manual CPR group survived with good neurological results.

"In patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, mechanical chest compressions in combination with defibrillation during ongoing compressions provided no improved 4-hour survival vs. manual CPR according to guidelines. There was a good neurological outcome in the vast majority of survivors in both groups, and neurological outcomes improved over time," the authors wrote according to Medical Xpress.

The study was published in JAMA.