Hypothermia is a core body temperature < 35° C. Symptoms progress from shivering and lethargy to confusion, coma, and death. Mild hypothermia requires a warm environment and insulating blankets (passive rewarming). Severe hypothermia requires active rewarming of the body surface (eg, with forced-air warming systems, radiant sources) or core (eg, inhalation, heated infusion and lavage, extracorporeal blood rewarming).

Primary hypothermia causes about 600 deaths each year in the US. Hypothermia also has a significant and underrecognized effect on mortality risk in cardiovascular and neurologic disorders.

Etiology

Hypothermia results when body heat loss exceeds body heat production. Hypothermia is most common during cold weather or immersion in cold water, but it may occur in warm climates when people lie immobile on a cool surface (eg, when they are intoxicated) or after very prolonged immersion in swimming-temperature water (eg, 20 to 24° C). Wet clothing and wind chill increase risk of hypothermia.

Conditions that cause loss of consciousness, immobility, or both (eg, trauma, hypoglycemia, seizure disorders, stroke, drug or alcohol intoxication) are common predisposing factors. The elderly and the very young also are at high risk. The elderly often have diminished temperature sensation and impaired mobility and communication, resulting in a tendency to remain in an overly cool environment. These impairments, combined with diminished subcutaneous fat, contribute to hypothermia in the elderly—sometimes even indoors in cool rooms. The very young have similarly diminished mobility and communication and have an increased surface area/mass ratio, which enhances heat loss. Intoxicated people who lose consciousness in a cold environment are likely to become hypothermic.

Pathophysiology

Hypothermia slows all physiologic functions, including cardiovascular and respiratory systems, nerve conduction, mental acuity, neuromuscular reaction time, and metabolic rate. Thermoregulation ceases below about 30° C; the body must then depend on an external heat source for rewarming. Renal cell dysfunction and decreased levels of ADH lead to production of a large volume of dilute urine (cold diuresis). Diuresis plus fluid leakage into the interstitial tissues causes hypovolemia. Vasoconstriction, which occurs with hypothermia, may mask hypovolemia, which then manifests as sudden shock or cardiac arrest during rewarming (rewarming collapse) when peripheral vasculature dilates.

Immersion in cold water can trigger the diving reflex, which involves reflex vasoconstriction in visceral muscles; blood is shunted to essential organs (eg, heart, brain). The reflex is most pronounced in small children and may help protect them. Also, hypothermia due to total immersion in near-freezing water may protect the brain from hypoxia by decreasing metabolic demands. The decreased demand probably accounts for the occasional survival after prolonged cardiac arrest due to extreme hypothermia.

Symptoms and Signs

Intense shivering occurs initially, but it ceases below about 31° C, allowing body temperature to drop more precipitously. CNS dysfunction progresses as body temperature decreases; people do not sense the cold. Lethargy and clumsiness are followed by confusion, irritability, sometimes hallucinations, and eventually coma. Pupils may become unreactive. Respirations and heartbeat slow and ultimately cease. Initially, sinus bradycardia is followed by slow atrial fibrillation; the terminal rhythm is ventricular fibrillation or asystole. However, these rhythms are potentially less ominous than in normothermia.

Diagnosis

• Core temperature measurement
• Consideration of intoxication, myxedema, sepsis, hypoglycemia, and trauma

Diagnosis is by core temperature, not oral temperature. Electronic thermometers are preferred; many standard mercury thermometers have a lower limit of 34° C. Rectal, bladder, and esophageal probes are most accurate.

Laboratory tests include CBC, glucose (including bedside measurement), electrolytes, BUN, creatinine, and ABGs. ABGs are not corrected for low temperature. ECG typically shows J (Osborn) waves (see Fig. 1: Cold Injury: Abnormal ECG showing J (Osborn) waves (V4).) and interval prolongation (PR, QRS, QT), although these findings are not always present. Causes are sought. If the cause is unclear, alcohol level is measured, and drug screening and thyroid function tests are done. Sepsis and occult head or skeletal trauma must be considered.

Fig. 1
Abnormal ECG showing J (Osborn) waves (V4).

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Prognosis

Patients who have been immersed in icy water for 1 h or (rarely) longer have sometimes been successfully rewarmed without permanent brain damage (see Drowning: Prognosis), even when core temperatures were very low or when pupils were unreactive. Outcome is difficult to predict and cannot be based on the Glasgow Coma Scale. Grave prognostic markers include evidence of cell lysis (hyperkalemia > 10 mEq/L), intravascular thrombosis (fibrinogen < 50 mg/dL), and presence of a nonperfusing cardiac rhythm (ventricular fibrillation or asystole). For a given degree and duration of hypothermia, children are more likely to recover than adults.

Treatment

• Drying and insulation
• Fluid resuscitation
• Active rewarming unless hypothermia is mild, accidental, and uncomplicated

The first priority is to prevent further heat loss by removing wet clothing and insulating the patient. Subsequent measures depend on how severe hypothermia is and whether cardiovascular instability or cardiac arrest is present. Returning patients to a normal temperature is less urgent in hypothermia than in severe hyperthermia. For stable patients, elevation of core temperature by 1° C/h is acceptable.

If hypothermia is mild and thermoregulation is present (indicated by shivering and temperature typically 31 to 35° C), insulation with heated blankets and warm fluids to drink are adequate.

Fluid resuscitation is essential for hypovolemia. Patients are given 1 to 2 L of 0.9% saline solution (20 mL/kg for children) IV; if possible, the solution is heated to 40 to 42° C. More fluid is given as needed to maintain perfusion.

Active rewarming: Active rewarming is required if patients have cardiovascular instability, temperature < 32.2° C, hormone insufficiency (such as hypoadrenalism or hypothyroidism), or hypothermia secondary to trauma, toxins, or predisposing disorders. If body temperature is at the warmer end of the range, external rewarming with forced hot air enclosures may be used. External heat is best applied to the thorax because warming the extremities may increase metabolic demands on a depressed cardiovascular system. Patients with lower temperatures, particularly those with low BP or cardiac arrest, require core rewarming.

Core rewarming options include

• Inhalation
• IV infusion
• Lavage
• Extracorporeal core rewarming (ECR)

Inhalation of heated (40 to 45° C), humidified O₂ via mask or endotracheal tube eliminates respiratory heat loss and can add 1 to 2° C/h to the rewarming rate.

IV crystalloids or blood should be heated to 40 to 42° C, especially with massive volume resuscitations.

Heated lavage of the bladder or GI tract transfers minimal heat, although closed thoracic lavage through 2 thoracostomy tubes is very efficient in severe cases. Peritoneal lavage with dialysate heated to 40 to 45° C requires 2 catheters with outflow suction and is expecially useful for severely hypothermic patients who have rhabdomyolysis, toxin ingestions, or electrolyte abnormalities.

There are 4 types of ECR: hemodialysis, venovenous, arteriovenous, and cardiopulmonary bypass. ECR measures require a prearranged protocol with appropriate specialists. Although they are intuitively attractive and heroic, these measures are not routinely available, and they are not commonly used in most hospitals.

CPR: CPR is not done if patients have a perfusing rhythm, even if pulses are not palpable. Fluids are given, and active rewarming is done. Hypotension and bradycardia are expected when core temperature is low and, if due solely to hypothermia, need not be aggressively treated. Patients with a nonperfusing rhythm require CPR. Chest compressions and endotracheal intubation are done. Defibrillation is difficult if body temperature is low; one attempt with a 2 watt sec/Kg charge may be made, but if ineffective, further attempts are generally deferred until temperature reaches > 30° C. Advanced life support should be continued until temperature reaches 32° C unless obviously lethal injuries or disorders are present. However, advanced cardiac life-support drugs (eg, antiarrhythmics, vasopressors, inotropes) are usually not given. Low-dose dopamineSome Trade Names
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(1 to 5 μg/kg/min) or other catecholamine infusions are typically reserved for patients who have disproportionately severe hypotension and who do not respond to fluid resuscitation and rewarming. Severe hyperkalemia (> 10 mEq/L) during resuscitation typically indicates a fatal outcome and can guide resuscitation efforts.

Key Points

• Measure core temperature using an electronic thermometer or probe.
• Above about 32° C, heated blankets and warm drinks are adequate treatment.
• Below about 32° C, active rewarming should be done, typically using hot air enclosures, heated, humidified O₂, warm IV fluid, and sometimes heated lavage or extracorporeal methods (eg, cardiopulmonary bypass, hemodialysis).
• At lower temperatures, patients are hypovolemic and require fluid resuscitation.
• CPR is not done if there is a perfusing rhythm; when it is done, defibrillation is deferred (after one initial attempt) until temperature reaches about 30° C.
• Advanced cardiac life-support drugs are usually not given.

Last full review/revision May 2012 by Daniel F. Danzl, MD

Content last modified May 2012