Endovascular cooling for severe hyperthermia in cervical spine injury

BACKGROUND: Sustained severe hyperthermia in patients with high cervical spinal cord injuries may have many etiologies, from infection to autonomic dysregulation. When uncontrolled, it has been seen to have a high morbidity and mortality. METHODS: We present two patients with high cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) who had sustained severe hyperpyrexia, of possible autonomic origin. The temperature stayed above 40 degrees C and was uncontrolled with conventional methods of temperature management. RESULTS: We employed endovascular cooling for therapeutic normothermia which was successful in effective control of temperature in both the patients. The first patient suffered complications from deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism which may be attributed to the presence of the cooling catheter in spite of chemical and mechanical thromboprophylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: The use of endovascular cooling in the management of severe life threatening hyperthermia in patients with cervical SCI may be an useful intervention. There must be a high suspicion for the possibility of deep vein thrombosis in this subgroup, however

Keywords : Accidents,Traffic,Adult,adverse effects,Autonomic Nervous System,Catheters,Indwelling,Cervical Vertebrae,complications,Embolism,Endovascular Procedures,etiology,Fatal Outcome,Fever,Fractures,Compression,Humans,Hypothermia,Induced,Infection,injuries,instrumentation,Male,methods,Morbidity,mortality,Motorcycles,Patients,physiopathology,Pulmonary Embolism,Spinal Cord,Spinal Cord Injuries,Spinal Fractures,Spinal Fusion,Spine,Temperature,therapy,Venous Thrombosis,, Cooling,Severe,Hyperthermia, laser spine institute london ontario

Date of Publication : 2011 Dec

Authors : Tripathy S;Whitehead CF;

Organisation : Department of Neuroanaesthesia and Neurointensive Care, The Walton Centre of Neurosciences, Liverpool, UK. tripathyswagata@gmail.com

Journal of Publication : Neurocrit Care

Pubmed Link : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21442387

The London Spine Unit : Harley Street UK. Specialists in Cutting Edge Technologies for Spinal Surgery

Make an Appointment 

Trustpilot Reviews
Doctify Reviews
Top Doctor Reviews