Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics
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Accidental hypothermia is a health problem with a scope which has been underestimated by the medical community. Limited awareness and limited diagnostic equipment, along with hospital coding inaccuracies, make calculation of the true number of instances of accidental hypothermia nearly impossible. Severe hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls below 28 degrees C. ⋯ When cardiovascular resuscitation is performed first, followed by rewarming with a continual maintenance of optimum cardiovascular function, then all standard methods of rewarming (external rewarming with a fluid-circulated blanket, peritoneal lavage or partial cardiac bypass) should give equally good results. The preceding guidelines are extrapolated from a retrospective review of available clinical material as well as controlled prospective animal studies. Prospective clinical studies should be performed to confirm the acceptability of these guidelines; an inter-institutional study may be the best way to glean such data and should be considered by researchers interested in this problem.