• Ahmed F Hegazy, Danielle M Lapierre, Ron Butler, Janet Martin, and Eyad Althenayan.
• Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Western Ontario, LHSC-UC, 339 Windermere Road, London, Ontario N6A 5A5, Canada. Electronic address: Ahmed.Hegazy@lhsc.on.ca.
• Heart Lung. 2017 May 1; 46 (3): 143-148.

BackgroundTherapeutic hypothermia has been demonstrated to improve neurological outcome in comatose survivors of cardiac arrest. Current temperature control modalities however, have several limitations. Exploring innovative methods of temperature management has become a necessity.MethodsWe describe the first use of a novel esophageal cooling device as a sole modality for hypothermia induction, maintenance and rewarming in a series of four postcardiac arrest patients. The device was inserted in a manner similar to standard orogastric tubes and connected to an external heat exchange unit.ResultsA mean cooling rate of 0.42 °C/hr (SD ± 0.26) was observed. An average of 4 hr 24 min (SD ± 2 hr 6 min) was required to reach target temperature, and this was maintained 90.25% (SD ± 16.20%) of the hypothermia protocol duration. No adverse events related to device use were encountered. Questionnaires administered to ICU nursing staff regarding ease-of-use of the device and its performance were rated as favorable.ConclusionsWhen used as a sole modality, objective performance parameters of the esophageal-cooling device were found to be comparable to standard temperature control methods. More research is required to further quantify efficacy, safety, assess utility in other patient populations, and examine patient outcomes with device use in comparison to standard temperature control modalities.Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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