Management of profound hypothermia in children without the use of extracorporeal life support therapy

Profound hypothermia is managed more and more with extracorporeal life support technology, especially when a patient's circulation is compromised. Many centres do not have rapid access to this service, however, and are still dependent on active internal rewarming techniques-eg, peritoneal and pleural lavage. Such interventions are invasive, and associated with inherent risk. Here, we report our successful experience with an active external rewarming technique in children with profound hypothermia (core temperature <20°C).