Podcast 655: Hypothermia in Sepsis

<p><strong>Contributor: Adam Barkin, MD</strong></p> <p><strong>Educational Pearls:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Fever is an adaptive response to infection, but elderly and immunocompromised patients may not be able to mount a hyperthermic response in sepsis</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Patients with fever in sepsis end up receiving treatment earlier and have better outcomes</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Hypothermic patients with severe sepsis admitted to the ICU had a 32% mortality versus 21% mortality in those who had a fever on presentation</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">3-hour sepsis bundle compliance was less frequent in hypothermic patients than in febrile patients (56% versus 71%)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Early broad spectrum antibiotics were administered less in patients who were hypothermic than those that were febrile (77% versus 87%)</span></li> </ul> <p><strong>References</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt;">Blair E, Buxton RW, Cowley RA, Mansberger AR. The Use of Hypothermia in Septic Shock. JAMA. 1961;178(9):916–919. doi:10.1001/jama.1961.73040480005008b</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400; font-size: 10pt;">Kushimoto S, Abe T, Ogura H, et al. Impact of Body Temperature Abnormalities on the Implementation of Sepsis Bundles and Outcomes in Patients With Severe Sepsis: A Retrospective Sub-Analysis of the Focused Outcome Research on Emergency Care for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Sepsis and Trauma Study. Crit Care Med. 2019;47(5):691-699.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Summarized by John Spartz, MS3 | Edited by Erik Verzemnieks, MD</span></em></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The E