Targeted Temperature Management

Targeted temperature management, previously known as therapeutic hypothermia or protective hypothermia, is an active treatment that tries to achieve and maintain a specific body temperature in a person for a specific duration in an effort to improve health outcomes during recovery after a period of stopped blood flow to the brain, whether from cardiac arrest or from the blockage of an artery by a clot as in a stroke, in an attempt to reduce the risk of tissue injury. It improves survival and brain function following resuscitation from cardiac arrest, and evidence supports its use following certain types of cardiac arrest in which a person does not regain consciousness, with a target temperature often between thirty two and thirty four degrees Celsius, though its benefit following traumatic brain injury is unclear; it is associated with some complications, but these are generally mild. It is thought to prevent brain injury by several methods, including decreasing the brain oxygen demand, reducing production of neurotransmitters such as glutamate, and reducing free radicals that might damage the brain, and body temperature may be lowered by many means, including cooling blankets, cooling helmets, cooling catheters, ice packs, and ice water lavage.