Protective hypothermia: An old therapy with a new prospective

Therapeutic hypothermia (protective hypothermia) has been known to have beneficial effects since ancient times but interest was renewed after two land mark publication a decade ago. The survival as well as quality of life of post cardiac arrest patients depends on neurological outcome. Mild induced hypothermia is recommended for improving the neurological status of these patients. All acute care physician, nurses and emergency medical services personals should be aware of this approach. We report a case of post cardiac arrest that displayed improved neurological status with mild therapeutic hypothermia.

A young, female patient experienced perioperative cardiac arrest. Immediate resuscitation lead to return of spontaneous circulation in six minutes. Her post resuscitation Glasgow Coma score (GCS) was five. We induced therapeutic hypothermia-the patient required sedation and a chemical muscle relaxant. After 24 h we began slow rewarming. On day four, her GCS improved to 14, and she was extubated on day 6. She had mild cognitive disorder but was functionally independent. She was transferred to the ward on day 11 and subsequently discharged home.

Mild induced therapeutic hypothermia improves neurological status of post cardiac arrest patients; however, it had adverse effect of increased risk for infection, arrhythmia and electrolyte disorders.