Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena
| Thesis Title | Therapeutic hypothermia. The best strategy of care after cardiac arrest: a review of the literature |
|---|---|
| Name | Boiardi Stella |
| Supervisor(s) | Begliomini Bruno, Miccoli Rosa |
| Academic Year | 2013/14 |
| Thesis type | Research thesis |
Abstract
Background: Cardiac arrest appears to be one of the greater cause of death worldwide; those who survive often meet severe brain damages caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury mechanisms that occur in the phase after the cardiac arrest. In addition to cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed as soon as possible, another efficacious treatment is found to be hypothermia as a therapeutic choice for reducing the damage of the various systems caused by hypoperfusion. Materials and methods: It has been performed a research of scientific articles published not more than 5 years ago, taken from the database Pubmed, Cinahl, Nursing Reference Center and Cochrane by using the following MeSH terms: "Therapeutic Hypothermia", "Induced Hypothermia","Cardiac Arrest" and "Nursing". Texts dealing with therapeutic hypothermia and management of cooling systems were also consulted. Results: Between all the articles and texts that met the search criteria entered, 81 have been selected. After the reading of library material, 32 articles and texts have been used for writing out this study. Conclusions: Therapeutic hypothermia is one of the most effective treatments for these patients, as it allows an improved neurological outcome as well as a reduction of the mortality rate; also the guidelines of the American Heart Association recommend maintaining a temperature between 32°C and 34°C for 12-24 hours. The role of the nurse in assisting patients undergoing this procedure is crucial, in particular as regards to the management and control of body temperature and different cooling systems, prevention, and treatment of side effects as well as support to family members of the patient. Despite the proven efficacy of this treatment, therapeutic hypothermia is unfortunately still not used in all the care units.