• S Libert, P Dechamps, M Claus, B Claessens, C Mélot, and P Mols.
• Services des Urgences et du SMUR. sev.libert@hotmail.com
• Rev Med Brux. 2013 Mar 1;34(2):79-86.

IntroductionTherapeutic hypothermia is an essential step for the neurological protection of comatose individuals after cardiorespiratory arrest (CA) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). The evaluation of the application of the Protocol thereto within the C.H.U. Saint-Pierre (SPH) is the subject of this study.MethodRetrospective analyzes of the SPH computerized records from 01/01/2005 to 31/12/2010 whose inclusion criteria are out-of-hospital CA admitted alive to the hospital with VF as initial rythm. Transferred patients or NTBR status are excluded.ResultsOf the 72 patients studied, 68% were discharged alive from the hospital, 84% of which has no neurologic sequelae. Hypothermia was used for 44 people, unduly in 5 cases and there were also 5 other cases for which it was needed, but not applied. Hypothermia (32-34 degrees C) was reached in 11 h 23 (+/- 144 min) and lasted an average of 19 h 51 (+/- 249 min). Hypothermic patient survival amounted to 72.4%, including 81% with good neurological outcome.ConclusionThe results of the protocol application are superior to those of several other studies. Few errors of inclusion and exclusion are present. The implementing of a common protocol for IC--Emergency Units--EMS to accelerate obtaining the target temperature and improve performance seems beneficial. The creation and implementation of a specific register with patients who had AC and were cooled seem interesting for a better medical follow-up, an assessment of the management and an enhancement of the current knowledge related to this technique.

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