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Published on: November 21, 2017
Traumatic hypothermia is related to hypotension, not resuscitation
J M Bergstein1, D P Slakey, J R Wallace
1Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.
Study Objective:
To determine whether posttraumatic hypothermia is associated with hemorrhage or with resuscitation.
Methods:
We used a sequential hemorrhage-resuscitation rat model. Rats were subjected to hemorrhage (30 mL/kg), then 1 hour of shock, followed by 2:1 crystalloid/blood resuscitation (60 mL/kg) at ambient temperature. A control group underwent neither hemorrhage nor resuscitation.
Results:
We recorded core temperature and blood pressure every 10 minutes. Temperature drop averaged 3.4 degrees C and was fastest during hypotensive shock. Rate of temperature change correlated with blood pressure (beta = .0102, P < .001), shock phase (beta = .4504, P = .041), and blood pressure during shock phase (beta = .0116, P < .001), but not with resuscitation phase or with duration of shock or resuscitation. Three of 14 rats died during shock, none during resuscitation. An increase in temperature was noted in 1 of 14 rats during shock and in 7 of 11 rats during resuscitation.
Conclusion:
Hemorrhage-associated hypothermia occurs during hypotensive shock, not during fluid resuscitation.
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