Hemodialysis in management of hypothermia

Hypothermia Is defined as a core body temperature of less than 35 degreesC and is divided further into mild, moderate, and severe depending on the tem perature level. Several active internal rewarming modalities have been desc ribed in the management of moderate-to-severe accidental hypothermia. We re port a 73-year-old black man with underlying end-stage renal failure and is chemic cardiomyopathy who was admitted with severe accidental hypothermia ( core body temperature, 24.9 degrees0) secondary to environmental cold expos ure. The patient was resuscitated initially with warm intravenous fluids an d peritoneal dialysis with warm fluids with an average temperature rise of 1 degreesC. The patient was switched to hemodialysis that brought his tempe rature from 30.2 degreesC to 36.7 degreesC during a 3.5-hour dialysis with an average rise of 1.9 degreesC/h. Hemodialysis is a rapid and efficient mo dality of rapid Internal rewarming for mode rate-to-severe accidental hypot hermia. (C) 2001 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.