$Unique_ID{BRK01198}
$Pretitle{Circulatory System}
$Title{Do Doctors Still Cut Into the Chest to Massage the Heart?}
$Subject{heart massage surgery}
$Volume{G-3}
$Log{}

Copyright (c) 1991   Tribune Media Services, Inc.


Do Doctors Still Cut Into the Chest to Massage the Heart?


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QUESTION:  While watching a television advertisement about CPR
(cardiopulmonary resuscitation) I remembered a scene in an old movie where the
doctor cut into the chest to massage the heart back into life.  You don't hear
much about that anymore and I was wondering if doctors still use that method?

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ANSWER:  The movie must have been made before 1960, for that is the year in
which Dr. W.B. Kouwenhoven and his associates published a now famous paper in
the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) describing closed chest
massage.  Prior to that, open chest massage was the technique used, most often
by surgeons during hospital based surgery.  When the heart stopped beating
during an operation, the surgeon could quickly make the necessary incisions in
the wall of the chest, and massage the heart directly.  Investigators who
studied the results of such attempts to restore life to the heart report
success rates of better than 1 in 4.  However when the technique of closed
chest massage became known, the open chest heart massage was rapidly
abandoned.  The standardized procedure was approved by the Red Cross, the
American Heart Association and taught to millions of Americans.  A Gallup Poll
back in 1977 showed that almost 15 million people had already been trained,
and about half the adult population was planning to take a CPR course.  There
are some advantages and disadvantages to both open and closed chest methods,
the open method providing increased circulation to the body, while the closed
method is readily available to all, and certainly is a more acceptable concept
for general use.  Recently however, some physicians are advocating a new look
at open heart techniques, with the necessary studies, that could lead to
recommending the open chest procedure in some special cases.
ÿ
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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace 
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your 
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical 
problem.
