Protective or therapeutic hypothermia is a medical condition that tends to lower a patient’s body temperature with an aim of reducing the likelihood of ischemic injury to various tissues when the body has inadequate blood flow. The condition of inadequate blood flow can result from various causes. Cardiac arrest is one of the major causes of inadequate blood flow on the body, which if not addresses timely could lead to tissue injuries. This paper discusses the treatment of patients suffering from cardiac arrest using therapeutic hypothermia.
After a patient suffers from cardiac arrest, the blood circulation is totally disrupted in a few minutes, thereby resulting into hypoxia in various internal body organs. Hypoxia may in turn result into permanent brain damage. Therefore, for the patient to have a chance of survival, the cardiac arrest should be addressed rapidly which calls for an early alarm. The early alarm can take the form of Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) as well as defibrillation where ventricular fibrillation is carried out. If an effective, Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation is achieved and there are no defibrillation interruptions, therapeutic hypothermia tends to contribute to survival of many patients suffering from cardiac arrest and have low probability of suffering from brain injuries. Therapeutic hypothermia is a treatment that is used with an aim of preventing brain oedema, thereby reducing the need for oxygen by the patient as well as lowering the metabolism levels of the patient involved. In order to prevent patient from shivering which tend to increase the levels of oxygen consumptions, a neuromuscular blocker is used (Nolan, Morley, Hoek & Hickey, 2003).
Information Necessary on Cardiac Arrest. Information that is necessary to solve the problem of cardiac arrest is the conditions that results to cardiac arrest. With this information, a specialist can make a clear decision on which method of treatment to use in order to help the patient suffering from the arrest. The information is necessary because it will help the specialist solve the clinical problem effectively, thereby ensuring that the cardiac arrest does not result into brain injury. Information on the best method of treatment can be obtained in past medical research carried out on the clinical issue in question. The findings obtained from those studies can be useful to the specialist while treating the patient. The specialist can also use the knowledge and experience he/she has on the cardiac arrest clinical problem before deciding on method of treatment that can help reduce the damages that result from the attack on the patient.
Literature Available on the Clinical Issue
The article on “Therapeutic Hypothermia following Cardiac Arrest”, by Tim Collins and Peter Samworth provides important information on the issues of induced hypothermia after cardiac arrest. The article does provide current evidence on the clinical problem at hand. It provides information relating to the use of therapeutic hypothermia in treatment of cardiac arrest following heart as well as cerebral vascular accident. The article provides evidence on various cases that Therapeutic Hypothermia (TH) has been used to treat patient suffering from cardiac attack and how the patient in each case has responded to the treatment. The evidence provided in this paper is vital as it can be used by a specialist in treating different types of patient and be in a position to predict how the patient will respond to the treatment in question. The usage of therapeutic hypothermia in treatment of cardiac arrest is gaining popularity in the medical field. Thus, there is need for specialists to be aware of this method of treating cardiac arrest so as to apply it effectively in dealing with future cases of patients who suffers from this medical condition. The article provides such information to the specialists who can apply earlier response methods to cardiac arrest when faced with such a case, thereby increasing the probability of the patient involved surviving and protecting him or her from adverse brain damage that results from cardiac attack.
Another article that provides important information regarding the clinical problem at hand is ‘ Patient Treated with Therapeutic Hypothermia after Cardiac Arrest’, written by Susanna Lof, Agneta Sandstorm and Asa Engstom. The article provides information that describes the experiences of various relatives of patients who suffered and survived cardiac arrest after being treated using therapeutic hypothermia while they were in intensive care unit. The information in this article reveals that the relatives of the patients suffering from cardiac arrest were frightened by the news and had no hopes of patient’s survival. The relatives are frightened by the fact that their loved ones are connected to tubes as well as equipments and the patient looks cold, lifeless as well as hard to recognize the them. This article helps the specialist treating the patient suffering from cardiac arrest using therapeutic hypothermia method to be well prepared to support the relatives of the patient emotionally as their beloved one undergoes treatment. The doctor needs to be aware of the importance of providing information to the patient’s relatives regarding how their beloved one is responding to therapeutic hypothermia treatment (Lee, Tuner &Lang, 2002).
Description of the Research on the Treatment of Cardiac Arrest. The authors of the above article that are used to solve the clinical problem at hand carried out a research on how cardiac arrest can be treated using Therapeutic Hypothermia (TH). One aspect of the research focused on the reaction of the relatives of the patient on the treatment of their beloved ones using therapeutic hypothermia. The other study focused on collecting current evidence on the usage of therapeutic hypothermia in treating cardiac arrest and how the evidence collected can be used in solving similar clinical problems when they occur in future.
Solutions from the Studies. From the above studies, the specialist treating the clinical condition of cardiac arrest using therapeutic hypothermia method should ensure that they respond quickly to the patient in order to increase the chances of his/her survival. The studies reveal that the specialist is required to use a method that does not cause brain injury to the patient in question. In addition, the studies also reveals that after suffering from cardiac arrest the patient’s blood circulation is totally disrupted in a few minutes, thereby resulting into hypoxia in various internal body organs which may in turn result to permanent brain damage.
Therefore, for there to be chances of survival the cardiac arrest should be dealt with rapidly. The patient is required to notify a health specialist as soon as he/she notices any sign of cardiac arrest. On the other hand, the specialist can respond to the patient by performing a cardiac pulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation where there is ventricular fibrillation (Laver, Farrow, Turner &Nolan, 2004). Also, from the studies, it is noted that the specialist treating a patient suffering from cardiac arrest should ensure he/she provides continuous information to the relatives on the progress of the treatment and how their beloved ones is responding to treatment.
Conclusion
I would have implemented the above solutions in dealing with a similar clinical problem as they provides clear guidelines on what one should do when treating a patient suffering from cardiac arrest using therapeutic hypothermia method. As the studies have shown, the method is effective while treating the cases of cardiac arrest as it increases the chances of survival as well as reducing chances of brain damages as long as rapid treatment is carried out.
