Feasibility and Safety of Controlled Active Hypothermia Treatment During Transport in Neonates With Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of controlled active hypothermia versus standard intensive care during neonatal transport in patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Design: Cohort study with a historic control group. Setting: All infants were transported by Neonatal Emergency & Transport Services to a Level-III neonatal ICU. Patients: Two hundred fourteen term newborns with moderate-to-severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. An actively cooled group of 136 newborns were compared with a control group of 78 newborns. Interventions: Controlled active hypothermia during neonatal transport. Measurements and Main Results: Key measured variables were timing of hypothermia initiation, temperature profiles, and vital signs during neonatal transport. Hypothermia was initiated a median 2.58 hours earlier in the actively cooled group compared with the control group (median 1.42 [interquartile range, 0.83–2.07] vs 4.0 [interquartile range, 2.08–5.79] hours after birth, respectively; p
Source: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine - Category: Pediatrics Tags: Neonatal Intensive Care Source Type: research