Rewarming for accidental hypothermia in an urban medical center using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Authors

David Morley, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Kentaro Yamane, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Rika O'Malley, Thomas Jefferson University
Nicholas Cavarocchi, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Hitoshi Hirose, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2013

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It was published in: The American journal of case reports

2013;14:6-9

The published version is available at DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.883728. Copyright © International Scientific Literature

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Accidental hypothermia complicated by cardiac arrest carries a high mortality rate in urban areas. For moderate hypothermia cases conventional rewarming methods are usually adequate, however in severe cases extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is known to provide the most efficient rewarming with complete cardiopulmonary support. We report a case of severe hypothermia complicated by prolonged cardiac arrest successfully resuscitated using ECMO.

CASE REPORT: A 45 year old female was brought to our emergency department with a core body temperature

CONCLUSIONS: This case demonstrates the advantages of advanced internal rewarming techniques, such as ECMO, for quick and efficient rewarming of severely hypothermic patients. This case supports the use of ECMO in severely hypothermic patients as the standard of care.

Recommended Citation

Morley, David; Yamane, Kentaro; O'Malley, Rika; Cavarocchi, Nicholas; and Hirose, Hitoshi, "Rewarming for accidental hypothermia in an urban medical center using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation." (2013). Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers. Paper 19.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/emfp/19

PubMed ID

23569552