A recent study found two new methods of delivering defibrillation improved survivability and neurologic outcomes.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Nov. 24, studied patient outcomes for three methods of defibrillation: standard defibrillation; double sequential external defibrillation, or rapid sequential shocks from two defibrillators; and vector-change defibrillation, or switching defibrillation pads to an anterior-posterior position.
The study randomly assigned 405 patients to one of the three methods: 33.6 percent of patients received standard defibrillation, 30.9 percent received DSED and 35.6 percent received VC defibrillation.
Both DSED and VC defibrillation were associated with higher survival to hospital discharge rates at 30.4 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively, compared with 13.3 percent for standard defibrillation. DSED was also associated with higher rates of good neurologic outcomes, according to the study.