Stepping Out of the Cold: The Use of Surface Cooling Devices for Targeted Normothermia Temperature Management in Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survivors—Common Pitfalls and Proposed Solutions

Abstract

The critical care unit at the University Hospital of Wales is a 38-bedded tertiary center. In 2023, the unit admitted 1251 unscheduled patients, of which 131 were out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) patients. The unit also participated in the Targeted Temperature Management 2 study and adopted the findings shortly after its publication in 2021. This gave us a unique exposure into the pitfalls associated with changing surface cooling protocols. The aim of this quality and safety initiative was to explore the causes of failure to comply with normothermic temperature targets in the OOHCA population, following a protocol change away from targeted therapeutic hypothermia. This article uses surface cooling data from OOHCA survivors. We discuss our findings from analysis of surface cooling data from 36 patients—13 pre-protocol change (targeted hypothermia) and 23 post-protocol change (targeted normothermia). Concerningly, following the change to targeted normothermia, rather than therapeutic hypothermia, the fever burden increased from an average of 2 to12 hours per patient. To address this problem, we reviewed the data and identified several causes of this failure. These failures included the failure to start the therapy at the selected trigger point, the interruption of therapy, inadequate pad sizing, and the failure to select the correct protocol. Surface cooling pitfalls are not commonly discussed in the literature, and therefore there remains a risk that units may overlook them, either when transitioning between protocols or when continuing with an ongoing surface cooling device. With evidence suggesting that pyrexia contributes to poorer outcomes, it is of vital importance that staff are aware of any potential pitfalls of surface cooling devices to mitigate unnecessary fever burden.