Usefulness of a stool to stabilize dental chairs for external chest compression

Objectives: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) requires immediate start of external chest compression (ECC) and cardioversion as soon as possible. During dental surgery, CPR should be started in the dental chair considering difficulty to move the patient from the dental chair to the floor. However, all types of dental chairs are not stable for ECC. We previously developed a procedure to stabilize a dental chair by using a stool. ERC guideline 2015 adopted our procedure when cardiac arrest during dental surgery. The objective of this study was to verify the efficacy of a stool as a stabilizer in different types of dental chairs. Materials and methods: Three health care providers participated in this study, and 8 dental chairs were examined. ECC were performed on a manikin that was laid on the backrest of a dental chair. A stool was placed under the backrest to stabilize the dental chair. The vertical displacement of the backrest by ECC were compared between with and without a stool, and recorded by a camcorder. Results: In all 8 dental chairs, the method by using a stool significantly reduced the vertical displacements of the backrest by ECC. The reduction ratios were between nearly 39~85%, although it was different by chairs. Conclusions: Our procedure to stabilize dental chairs by using a stool significantly reduced the displacement of a backrest against ECC in all chairs. Clinical relevance: Effective ECC could be performed in dental chairs by using a stool when sudden cardiac arrest occurs during dental surgery.