American journal of surgery
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Review Comparative Study
Pathophysiologic changes and effects of hypothermia on outcome in elective surgery and trauma patients.
Generally, hypothermia is defined as a core temperature <35 degrees C. In elective surgery, induced hypothermia has beneficial effects. It is recommended to diminish complications attributable to ischemia reperfusion injury. ⋯ This might have a beneficial effect on outcome. Nevertheless, posttraumatic infectious complications may be higher because of an immunosuppressive profile. Further studies are needed to investigate the impact of induced hypothermia on outcome in trauma patients.