Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics
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Accidental hypothermia, a core temperature below 34 degrees C., is frequently fatal, particularly in the ill and elderly. Traditional treatment methods result in reported mortalities of between 45 and 100 per cent. Despite these terrible statistics, advocates of slow rewarming persist. ⋯ Agressive fluid resuscitation, rapid immersion rewarming and careful systematic monitoring have been used to treat ten consecutive patients without a single death. Concomitant problems of alcoholism, stroke, myxedema, tuberculosis and paraplegia were also treated. Rapid external rewarming by immersion can result in a low mortality in patients with severe hypothermia.