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Review ArticleReviews, Overviews, & Updates

The Evaluation and Management of Accidental Hypothermia

Robert R Kempainen and Douglas D Brunette
Respiratory Care February 2004, 49 (2) 192-205;
Robert R Kempainen
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Fairview University Medical Center, and with the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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  • For correspondence: [email protected]
Douglas D Brunette
Department of Emergency Medicine, Hennepin County Medical Center, and with the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Abstract

Accidental hypothermia is defined as an unintentional decrease in core body temperature to below 35°C. Hypothermia causes hundreds of deaths in the United States annually. Victims of accidental hypothermia present year-round and in all climates with a potentially confusing array of signs and symptoms, but increasing severity of hypothermia produces a predictable pattern of systemic organ dysfunction and associated clinical manifestations. The management of hypothermic patients differs in several important respects from that of euthermic patients, so advance knowledge about hypothermia is prerequisite to optimal management. The paucity of randomized clinical trials with hypothermic patients precludes creation of evidence-based treatment guidelines, but a clinically sound management strategy, tailored to individual patient characteristics and institutional expertise and resources, can nonetheless be gleaned from the literature. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and treatment of accidental hypothermia. Initial evaluation and stabilization, selection of a rewarming strategy, and criteria for withholding or withdrawing support are discussed.

  • hypothermia
  • rewarming
  • thermoregulation

Footnotes

  • Correspondence: Robert R Kempainen MD, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, MMC 276, 420 Delaware Street SE, Minneapolis MN 55455. E-mail: kempa001{at}umn.edu.
  • Copyright © 2004 by Daedalus Enterprises Inc.
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Respiratory Care: 49 (2)
Respiratory Care
Vol. 49, Issue 2
1 Feb 2004
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The Evaluation and Management of Accidental Hypothermia
Robert R Kempainen, Douglas D Brunette
Respiratory Care Feb 2004, 49 (2) 192-205;

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The Evaluation and Management of Accidental Hypothermia
Robert R Kempainen, Douglas D Brunette
Respiratory Care Feb 2004, 49 (2) 192-205;
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  • rewarming
  • thermoregulation

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Print ISSN: 0020-1324        Online ISSN: 1943-3654

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