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Is dantrolene effective in heat stroke patients?
A B Channa1, M A Seraj, A A Saddique
1Department of Anaesthesia, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Critical Care Medicine
|March 1, 1990
Summary
Dantrolene administration significantly reduced cooling time in heat stroke (HS) patients. However, this did not improve patient recovery, questioning the routine use of this expensive drug for HS treatment.
Area of Science:
- Emergency Medicine
- Pharmacology
- Thermoregulation
Background:
- Heat stroke (HS) is a critical medical emergency characterized by hyperthermia.
- Rapid body cooling is essential for managing heat stroke patients.
- Dantrolene's efficacy in accelerating cooling for heat stroke requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effect of intravenous dantrolene on the cooling time in heat stroke patients.
- To compare the recovery rates between heat stroke patients treated with dantrolene and those receiving standard cooling.
Main Methods:
- Eight heat stroke patients received intravenous dantrolene (2.45 mg/kg).
- A control group of 12 heat stroke patients received standard body surface cooling.
- Cooling was performed in air-conditioned rooms (18-23°C) with temperature monitored.
Main Results:
- The dantrolene group exhibited a significantly shorter mean cooling time (49.7 min) compared to the control group (69.2 min).
- Temperature decrease was significantly greater in the dantrolene group, reducing cooling time by approximately 19.5 minutes (p < .01).
- No significant difference in patient recovery was observed between the dantrolene and control groups.
Conclusions:
- Intravenous dantrolene significantly accelerates body surface cooling in heat stroke patients.
- Despite faster cooling, dantrolene did not improve patient recovery outcomes in this study.
- The high cost of dantrolene necessitates careful evaluation before its routine implementation in heat stroke management.
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