Effectiveness of Resistive Heating Compared With Passive Warming in Treating Hypothermia Associated With Minor Trauma: A Randomized Trial

Occurrence of hypothermia in a prehospital setting, southern Sweden

“…The use of tympanic thermometers is a common method for measuring the core body temperatures in hospitals and is also described in prehospital situations (Kober et al, 2001;Russo et al, 2005). Results indicate that high-quality evidence supporting the accuracy of tympanic thermometry unfortunately is lacking, however, by entering the mean between the temperature measurement on both the right and left ear the impact of the extreme values can be minimized at the statistical calculation (Hooper and Andrews, 2006).…”

“…It has earlier been concluded that hypothermia was found in 80% of patients with minor trauma at the time of rescue (Kober et al, 2001). Severe accidental hypothermia mainly affects victims of outdoor accidents who have been exposed to a cold environment or immersion in cold water.…”

“…The function of the human body is optimal with a core temperature between 36.4-37.5°C and the definition of accidental hypothermia is an unintentional decrease of the core body temperature to <35°C (Kempainen and Brunette, 2004;Mallet, 2002;Hildebrand et al, 2004). However other studies has defined hypothermia as a core temperature <36°C because even mild hypothermia is associated with several physiological complications (Kober et al, 2001).…”

“…Thermal discomfort contributes to fear, pain and an overall sense of dissatisfaction (Kober et al, 2001). Hypothermia induces pathophysiologic changes in the body organ system, and physiological alterations depend on the degree of hypothermia.…”

The treatment of deep frostbite with hyperbaric oxygen

“…2,8 The severity of frostbite is related to vascular insufficiency, altitude, duration of exposure, tissue wetness, previous exposure to cold injury, age and other factors. 9 Thromboxanes and prostaglandins also play an important role in frostbite injuries. 5 Frostbite is classified in four degrees, with superficial frostbite comprising the 1st and 2nd degrees and deep frostbite the 3rd and 4th degrees.…”