Therapeutic hypothermia to prevent neurological deficits

Abstract

Hypothermia is increasingly being used as a treatment modality for many conditions. Therapeutic hypothermia is any technique in which the body temperature is lowered for reducing oxygen demand and metabolic rate as a means to prevent or minimize organ damage. The purpose of this thesis is to describe current applications of therapeutic hypothermia, including types of cooling techniques, patients who benefit from hypothermia, target temperature, and associated side effects. There are two clinical situations where large randomized studies have demonstrated benefit of therapeutic hypothermia in humans. The first is in treatment of neonates with asphyxia, and the second is for treating survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Most cooling research focuses on treatment with mild to moderate hypothermia, 32°C - 34°C. Noninvasive cooling methods include the traditional ice packs, fans, alcohol baths, and cooling blankets not attached to any monitoring device. Invasive cooling techniques consist of the infusion of ice-cold fluids, ice slurries, endovascular, and nasopharyngeal cooling. Patients treated with therapeutic hypothermia require close monitoring due to the increased risk of infections, skin break down, vital sign changes such as bradycardia, and electrolyte balances such as hypokalemia. Optimal depth and duration of hypothermia and optimal rate of re-warming are unknown. Further nursing research is needed for induced hypothermia guidelines as well as education.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2010

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Amidei, Christina

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)

College

College of Nursing

Degree Program

Nursing

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Nursing;Nursing -- Dissertations, Academic

Format

Print

Identifier

DP0022500

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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