Abstract
Cooling is known to increase survival from asphyxia in newborn animals, when it is used before the onset of anoxia. It has therefore been advocated as a treatment for birth asphyxia in humans. Since it is not possible to cool a human baby before the onset of birth asphyxia, experiments were designed to test the effect of cooling after anoxia.
Newborn rabbits were asphyxiated in 100 per cent nitrogen and were cooled either quickly (drop of 1°C in 45 secs.) or slowly (drop of 1°C in 2 minutes). There was an increase in survival only when last cooling was used early in asphyxia. This rate of cooling is faster than is usually possible in clinical practice.
Further litters of rabbits were asphyxiated in utero. After delivery, they were divided into 3 groups, and were put into an enviromental temperature of 37°C, 20°C or 0°C. The animals who were cooled survived less often than those kept at 37°C.
The results of these experiments suggest that hypothermia has little to offer in the treatment of birth asphyxia in humans.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oates, R., Godbole, V., Harvey, D. et al. Failure of hypothermia as a treatment for experimental asphyxia in neonatal rabbits. Pediatr Res 8, 917 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197411000-00104
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197411000-00104