title: The effects of mild hypothermia on patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effects of mild hypothermia (33-35 degrees C) on the outcome of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) (GCS<8). METHODS: Patients in the mild hypothermia group were cooled to 33-35 degrees C by cooling blanket with muscular relaxant, and patients in the normothermia group were maintained at 37-38 degrees C. RESULTS: The result showed that the mortality was 26.1% (6/23) in the mild hypothermia group and 58.3% (14/24) in the normothermia group respectively (P<0.05). The mild hypothermia also markedly reduced intracranial pressure (P<0.01 and inhibited hyperglycermia (P<0.05). No significant side-effects were found during hypothermic treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our clinical data have demonstrated that mild hypothermia is a useful method for management of patients with severe traumatic brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China.
authors.forename: Jiyao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yicheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Guangji
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Mingkun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Guoyi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gao