How can doctors avoid the toxic effects of reintroducing oxygen to the body after a trauma? Hypothermia therapy lowering a patient's body temperature to decrease metabolic rate and thus the need for oxygen may be a solution, according to Hasan Alam, a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital who establish that therapy worked in critically wounded Yorkshire pigs. The technique is popular for preserving transplant organs and reducing the need for oxygenated blood during heart surgery, but it has not been widely tested in trauma patients. Despite its high-profile use on professional football's Kevin Everett after his paralyzing spine injury in September 2007, hypothermia treatment remains controversial, and studies of its effectiveness are inconclusive.
Happy Learning, Yovan P. Putra www.primastudy.com <http://www.primastudy.com>
