Effective intranasal cooling in an 80 year old patient with heatstroke

Intranasal cooling by the evaporation of perflourcarbon is almost exclusively used for the induction of therapeutic hypothermia in post-resuscitation care. This method has proven to be effective and safe. This case presents a successful application to a patient with external heatstroke. The 80 year old male patient was found in deep coma (GCS 4) by emergency medical services (EMS) showing a core temperature around 42 °C. Despite of preclinical physical cooling, the patient showed a persistent temperature of 41.5 °C upon reaching the emergency department. After endotracheal intubation intranasal evaporation cooling was performed and the patient's core temperature was reduced efficiently. We recorded an excellent cooling rate of 2.8 °C per hour. 16 h later the patient was successfully extubated with a good neurological outcome. This case shows that although intranasal cooling is mostly known for post-resuscitation care, there is a sensible application in heatstroke with imminent cerebral oedema.