[Successful resuscitation in accidental hypothermia following drowning]

After breaking through thin ice, a 4-year-old boy drowned in a lake. A quickly alerted rescue helicopter found and recovered the child, drifting underneath the clear, thin ice. Primary resuscitation by the helicopter crew was unsuccessful. Upon arrival in the hospital the child had fixed, dilated pupils and asystole. Core temperature was 19.8 degrees C. Rewarming was conducted slowly while cardiopulmonary resuscitation was continued. Twenty minutes after arrival at the hospital, ventricular complexes appeared in the ECG (temperature 22.1 degrees C); after another 10 min this converted to sinus rhythm. At short intervals, blood gas analyses and electrolyte determinations were carried out and corrected adequately. For cerebral protection methohexital was given and the child was hyperventilated. Seventy minutes after arrival at the hospital the child was brought to the pediatric ICU with stable circulation. There, further rewarming (centrally/peripherally combined) was carried out, aiming at 1 degree C rewarming per hour until a normal temperature was reached. The patient had to be kept on the ventilator for 10 days and after another 2 weeks was discharged home. He had recovered completely without any cerebral damage. One of the reasons why 88 min of cardiac arrest were tolerated by this patient without sequelae may have been rapid and deep hypothermia.