• Valdir Golin, Sandra Regina Schwarzwãlder Sprovieri, Rubens Bedrikow, Afonso Celso Pereira, Vânia Elizabeth Ramos Melhado, Mauro José Costa Salles, and Paulo Roberto Cavallaro Azevedo.
• Serviço de Emergência da Santa Casa de São Paulo, Departamento e Clínica Médica da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Santa Casa de São Paulo, SP, Brasil. vgolin@superig.com.br
• Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2003 Jul 1; 49 (3): 261265261-5.

ObjectiveThis paper has by objective to study the hypothermia's presence, presentation form and consequences in our environment.MethodsA prospective study in hypothermic patients assisted in the Medical Clinic Emergency Service of Santa Casa of S o Paulo, with 212 patients with mild, moderate and serious hypothermia from 1987 to 2001, the most part of them constituted by chronic alcoholics and homeless. The results were analyzed in reference to sex, age group, central temperature, electrocardiogram, co-morbidity and mortality.ResultsThe hypothermia prevailed in the male sex with 75.9%. As age group prevailed the age between 30 and 59 years. In 70.3% of the patients the central temperature went lower than 32 C, and in 26.4% of these, the temperature was lower than 28 C. The association with infectious processes happened in 76.8% of the cases. The patients with mild hypothermia answered better at therapeutics (96.8%) when compared with the moderate hypothermic (72.1%) and serious (87.5%) patients. The Osborn's wave was present in 42.6% of the patients. The general mortality was 38.2%.ConclusionsThe accidental hypothermia in Emergency Services from Tropical Country is an undeniable fact. The paramedic and medics should be alert and trained to recognize this disease of high morbidity and mortality. The mortality increases with the presence of associated diseases, particularly infectious processes, malnutrition and chronic alcoholism.

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