Is Therapeutic Hypothermia Really a Cool Technique?
According to statistics recently updated by American Heart Association (AHA), around 356,000 cardiac arrests occur in US alone, with mortality rate of more than 90%. Those who survive, suffer from severe permanent neurological impairment, and usually die shortly afterwards. 2015 guidelines of AHA recommends use of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) in order to minimize the risk of neurological dysfunction in comatose patients after return of spontaneous circulation. However, literature presents cases when TH did not serve the purpose. Large scale study for efficacy of TH implies that use of hypothermia to prevent neurological dysfunction is not productive and literature overemphasized its effectiveness. However, newer recommendation is to prevent hyperthermia i.e. keeping the core temperature normal for preservation of neurological function. Few studies suggest onset of new arrhythmias post-TH as well as increased risk of hospital acquired pneumonia. TH particularly showed no benefit in elderly population and individuals with other critical ailments. Medical science is an ever-growing field. More evidence-based studies are required in order to confirm the efficacy of therapeutic hypothermia as protective measure against neurological impairment and decreased rate of mortality Source: Therapeutic Hypothermia, False Hope in Cooling https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/nursing_msn/45/ Image taken from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbVzwTNLpk