Effects of hypothermia and hypothermia combined with hypocapnia on cerebral tissue oxygenation in piglets

Abstract

Hypothermia, hypocapnia and, consequently, their combination are the most frequent accidental deviations in vital signs occurring during pediatric anesthesia. 1 Furthermore, both conditions are sometimes deliberately induced. Hypothermia is often used to reduce oxygen demand, aiming at neuroprotection in different intensive care conditions. 2 Hypocapnia produces cerebral vasoconstriction and is used to lower increased intracranial pressure. 3 However, the neuroprotective use of hypothermia has been recently questioned and hypocapnia is well known to dramatically decrease cerebral blood flow (CBF), which might result in brain ischemia and a worsening of