Treatment effect or effective treatment? Cardiac Compression Fraction and End-tidal Carbon Dioxide Are Higher in Patients Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta Compared with Resuscitative Thoracotomy and Open-Chest Cardiac Massage

The purpose of this study is to compare end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO ₂ ) during resuscitation of open-chest cardiac massage (OCCM) with aortic cross-clamp (ACC) versus receiving resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) with closed-chest compressions (CCCs). Patients who received REBOA were compared with patients receiving OCCM for traumatic arrest using continuous vital sign monitoring and videography. Thirty-three patients were enrolled in the REBOA group and 18 patients were enrolled in the OCCM group. Of the total patients, 86.3 per cent were male with a mean age of 36.2 6 13.9 years. Ninety-four percent of patients suffered penetrating trauma in the OCCM group compared with 30.3 per cent of the REBOA group (P 5 <0.001). Before aortic occlusion (AO), there was no difference in initial EtCO ₂ values, but mean, median, peak, and final EtCO ₂ values were lower in OCCM (P < 0.005). During CPR after AO, the initial, mean, and median values were higher with REBOA (P 5 0.015, 0.036, and 0.038). The rate of return of spontaneous circulation was higher in REBOA versus OCCM (20/33 [60.1%] vs 5/18 [33.3%]; P 5 0.04), and REBOA patients survived to operative intervention more frequently (P 5 0.038). REBOA patients had greater total cardiac compression fraction (CCF) before AO than OCCM (85.3 6 12.7% vs 35.2 6 18.6%, P < 0.0001) and after AO (88.3 6 7.8% vs 71.9 6 24.4%, P 5 0.0052). REBOA patients have higher EtCO ₂ and cardiac compression fraction before and after AO compared with patients who receive OCCM.