Sunday, May 9, 2010

Sunday May 9, 2010


Q:
Is Pregnancy contraindication (Exclusion criteria) for Hypothermia Protocol?



A: Yes

Standard exclusions for Hypothermia protocol:
  • Another reason to be comatose (e.g. convulsive status epilepticus)
  • Pregnancy
  • A known terminal illness preceding the arrest
  • Known severe pre-existing coagulopathy or active bleeding (relative exclusion, esp for patients on warfarin)
  • No limit on duration of resuscitation effort; however “down time” of less than 1 hour most desirable
  • Pre-existing DO NOT INTUBATE code status and patient not intubated as part of resuscitation efforts