Therapeutic Hypothermia for Cardiopulmonary Arrest in the Pediatric Patient - Research Paper Example

The paper also seeks to dwell on the mechanistic of therapeutic hypothermia. This is in terms of methods employed to induce hypothermia. It also explores the various methods that can be used to monitor the temperature. Recommendations are suggested in the end. This is in the hope that the recommendations will help the clinician in issuing treatment to pediatric cardiac arrest cases using therapeutic hypothermia.

1.0 Introduction

In Northern America, the incidence of cardiac arrest in both adults and children ranges from 0.53 to 0.91 for every 1,000 persons. Out of these, about 8% survive (Polderman et al. 1100). The deaths have been attributed to the devastating neurological cell damage associated with cardiac arrest. In pediatric cases, the 1-year survival rate is poor despite the relative success in the initial resuscitation. A randomized controlled trial done on cardiac arrest patients revealed that the survival rate from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest was at 2-28% compared to 14-42% in an in-hospital cardiac arrest (Polderman et al. 1100). This is because mortality and morbidity are dependent on the duration of the arrest. The topic was chosen to enlighten those working in the pediatric department about the application of therapeutic hypothermia following pediatric cardiac arrest.

Therapeutic hypothermia in cardiology was first used in 1950 for cardiac surgery to protect the brain from hypoxia. The survival outcomes of this procedure in cardiac patients resulted in subsequent studies and trials. A study done in 2000 in Europe demonstrated that patients treated at these temperatures had a better outcome than those managed in the normal temperatures (Pozos et al 376). In 2003, the ILCR approved the use of therapeutic hypothermia for the management of patients who developed neurological injury as a complication of cardiac arrest even after successful resuscitation (Polderman et al. 1115). This has significantly contributed to the development of various devices used in the procedure to reduce the complication cases.