Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
A trial of therapeutic hypothermia via endovascular approach in awake patients with acute ischemic stroke: methodology.
Therapeutic hypothermia has been shown to be of benefit in improving neurological outcome in cardiac arrest. It now is being investigated in acute stroke and myocardial infarction. The majority of the literature describes its use in intubated, pharmacologically paralyzed patients, using surface cooling techniques that are susceptible to patient shivering, imprecise temperature control, time lag to target-temperature acquisition, and rebound hyperthermia. ⋯ This is a method by which a rapid and precise therapeutic decrease in core temperature can be achieved without the necessity for intubation or neuromuscular blockade and with minimal patient discomfort or shivering.