Hypothermia Induction: What is it and What is it Used For?

Hypothermia induction may sound like something new but it has been in use for a few years now. Hypothermia induction is used in a cardiac arrest and in brain injuries. In addition, hypothermia induction may start being used for more severe injuries such as spinal cord or strokes. Patents currently are being treated with hypothermia induction after having a heart attack and only five hospitals in the U.S are participating in this breakthrough procedure.

The idea of hypothermia induction after a heart attack is to lower body temperature to ensure a delay in tissue damage, which may result in a stroke. Once way of hypothermia induction is mentioned as actually packing an individual in ice and administering a chilled IV drop to cool down the patient's body temperature. Besides packing an individual in ice to begin hypothermia induction, the basic point is to get the body temperature down to a chilly 96.8 Fahrenheit, in which the patient will begin to shiver. Another way to administer a coolant to the body is with a cooling catheter, which can provide more accuracy in temperature control.

There have been several animal studies completed with this procedure and show promising results but not quite good enough for human tests as of yet. One main factor of hypothermia induction is when the rewarming phase begins; it should be considered a slow careful process, if the rewarming phase is sped up the potential for death increases.

Another way of hypothermia induction is to use a water blanket. A water blanket allows cold water to circulate around the blanket and is considered non-invasive. Water blankets have been in use since the 1950's. There are some issues with the engineering of a water blanket such as water leaks, and a potential for electrical hazards.

The basic outcome for hypothermia induction is be able to save neurological damage from occurring. There able some potential side effects for being hypothermia induced which are infections and arrhythmia's. There are still several studies going on across the world with many participants. Though this procedure is not completely full proof, some statistics indicate this helps prevent brain damage during heart attacks and other brain injuries.

With more studies being completed on hypothermia induction there is hope for those have cardiac arrest, possible instead of only CPR being performed it may also turn into focusing on cooling a loved one down until help arrives. Surely most important of all is full recovery mentally and physically from a cardiac arrest or any other severe injury.

Wikipedia/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_hypothermia/