Therapeutic hypothermia in treatment of different cerebral injuries

Abstract

There is an increasing incidence of various cerebral events in Russia, as well as throughout the world. At the same time, despite of all the successes of modern medicine, the treatment outcomes of these patient groups haven’t improved. The main successes are based on faster patient delivery to hospitals and on the creation of specialized centers for this cohort of patients. At the same time, the effectiveness of pharmacological agents with neuroprotective activity is questionable. On the other hand, therapeutic hypothermia techniques have proven to be an effective method of neuroprotection in various cerebral events. These methods can be divided into local and general hypothermia. Each of these options has its own advantages and indications. Thus, the use of general hypothermia techniques maintains the target temperature of the whole body, these techniques are more controllable, but at the same time, the methods of local craniocerebral hypothermia allows to affect the target organ. The methods of hypothermia and thermostabilization have been proven to improve the treatment results of patients post-CPR and in children with neonatal hypoxia. The effectiveness of hypothermia in the remaining pathological conditions of the brain has not yet been investigated. Studies of the last 5 years have not revealed high efficacy of general hypothermia at TBI, so almost of all studies indicated that normothermia and hypothermia are equally effective. Studies are ongoing in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, subdural hematomas and ischemic stroke. Identifying groups of patients who are recommended for these methods for complex treatment can lead to progress in improving survival and neurological outcome.