A Study of the Clinical Effects of Airway Warming in the Treatment of Accidental Hypothermia

Abstract

Nineteen clinical cases of accidental hypothermia were treated with airway warming (AW) and the results compared with 18 cases which were allowed to rewarm spontaneously. AW accelerated the rate of rewarming and had beneficial effects on cardiac and cerebral function. In patients with chronic hypothermia, i.e. the elderly and those suffering from malnutrition, the accelerated rewarming increased the risk of developing pulmonary and/or cerebral edema which could prove fatal. The patients with acute hypothermia all rewarmed successfully but the mortality for the chronic hypothermic patients was higher in the AW group.