Therapeutic Hypothermia and Targeted Temperature Management for Traumatic Arrest and Surgical Patients

Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) and targeted temperature management (TTM) have been shown to improve outcomes in survivors of cardiac arrest, but prior research has excluded trauma and postoperative patients. We sought to determine whether TH/TTM is safe in trauma and surgical patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single level I trauma center reviewing adults presenting as a traumatic arrest or cardiac arrest in the postoperative period with a Glasgow Coma Scale <8 after return of circulation who were treated with either TH or TTM. Neurological recovery is considered favorable if a patient was discharged following commands. A total of 32 cardiac arrest patients were included in the study, 14 of whom were treated with TH and 18 with TTM protocols, with goal temperatures of 33°C and 36°C, respectively. Mean age of the cohort was 60 ± 13, with 26 (81%) men. There were 18 trauma patients and 14 postoperative patients. Complications included pneumonia (13%), sepsis (6%), bleeding requiring transfusion (22%), arrhythmias (6%), and seizures (9%), which are similar to prior published series. Overall survival to discharge was 41% (n = 13), and all survivors had favorable neurological recovery. Traumatic arrest and perioperative cardiac arrest patients previously excluded from TH/TTM studies appear to have an acceptable incidence of complications compared with standard TH/TTM patients.