title: Mild therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest: mechanism of action and protocol development.
abstract: Cardiac arrest is a high mortality event and the associated brain ischemia frequently causes severe neurological damage and persistent vegetative state. Therapeutic hypothermia is an important tool for the treatment of post-anoxic coma after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It has been shown to reduce mortality and to improve neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest. Nevertheless, hypothermia is underused in critical care units. This manuscript aims to review the hypothermia mechanism of action in cardiac arrest survivors and to propose a simple protocol, feasible to be implemented in any critical care unit.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dom Vicente Scherer do Complexo Hospitalar Santa Casa, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Tatiana Helena
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Rech
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Interna, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Sílvia Regina Rios
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Vieira