Hypothermia (26.9°C) in a Polytrauma Patient: Case Report of Survival and Review of Science

Hypothermia is beneficial in certain circumstances; the single most advantageous aspect of hypothermia is the reduction in metabolic demand. However, induced hypothermia differs from post-traumatic hypothermia. It is acknowledged that hypothermic polytrauma patients have poorer outcomes than normothermic polytrauma patients. Post-traumatic hypothermia has worse outcomes, likely due to it being a sequel of hemorrhagic shock, and the attendant failure to meet metabolic demands. Hemorrhagic shock produces the “lethal triad” of trauma: hypothermia, acidosis and coagulopathy. Studies of post-traumatic hypothermia have shown that core body temperature of 32°C predicts fatality [1-4]. We present a case report of a trauma patient with documented presenting core temperature of 26.9°C in the context of treatable hemorrhagic shock along with a systematic literature review of post-traumatic hypothermia.

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