Hypothermia beneficial to adult TBI patients
A new study shows that hypothermia therapy is beneficial for adults who sustain traumatic brain injury. According to an article in Neurology Advisor, the therapy is not however beneficial for children with traumatic brain injury.
Therapeutic hypothermia, which is also called targeted temperature management, refers to deliberate reduction of the core body temperature, typically to a range of about 32° to 34° C (89.6° to 93.2° F). It’s practiced most commonly in patients who don’t regain consciousness after return of spontaneous circulation following a cardiac arrest.
The study was recently published in Critical Care Medicine.
“Ellie M. Crompton, from the Institute of Cardiovascular Research at the Royal Holloway University of London, and colleagues conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis to quantify the benefits of hypothermia therapy for traumatic brain injuries in adults and children,” the Neurology Advisor article reads. “Data were reviewed from 41 studies in adults and from 8 studies in children. The researchers found that therapeutic hypothermia in adults was associated with an 18% reduction in mortality … compared with adults who were kept normothermic, and a 35% improvement in neurologic outcome.”
In children, hypothermic treatment was associated with a 66% increase in mortality and a trend toward deterioration in neurologic outcome.
“Therapeutic hypothermia is likely a beneficial treatment following traumatic brain injuries in adults, but cannot be recommended in children,” the authors wrote.
