Therapeutic hypothermia is generally accepted as a useful intervention that should be employed in patients that are resuscitated after cardiac arrest. Many protocols for cooling are relatively complicated, involving endovascular catheters, cooling blankets, cooling helmets, or other devices that are expensive and not widely available. The cooling process can actually be fairly simple, however, with ice and cool IV fluids. The most recent study that demonstrated this used nothing more than application of ice to the groin, neck, and axillae; and administration of 4o C IVF infused at 30cc/kg at 100ml/min via two peripheral catheters. Sedation or paralysis + intubation was used as per the norm.
Patients receiving this simple intervention were able to achieve goal temperature of 32o-34o C within 3-4 hours, and hypothermia was maintained for a full 24 hours before rewarming.
The study shows that expensive equipment and complicated protocols are not necessary for therapeutic hypothermia.
References
Larsson IM, Wallin E, Rubertsson S. Cold saline infusion and ice packs alone are effective in inducing and maintaining therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest. Resuscitation 2010;81:15-19.
