[Hypothermic temperature control after successful resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in adults : Statement from the resuscitation and postresuscitation treatment working groups of the German Society of Medical Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DGIIN) and the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), the German Society for Interdisciplinary Emergency and Acute Medicine (DGINA) and the Austrian Association of Emergency Medicine (AAEM)].

Abstract

In Germany per year approximately 60,000 and in Austria 5,000 adult patients suffer from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Only 10-15% of these patients survive without neurological damage. For decades hypothermic temperature control has been a central component of post-resuscitation treatment, but is controversial due to recently published studies.