Hypothermia in critically ill trauma patients

Objective: To determine the incidence and mortality of hypothermia in trauma patients. Methods: Retrospective review of patients admitted to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) over 4 1/2 years. Hypothermia was defined as a temperature <35°C. Results: There were 7045 admissions to the SICU, of which 661 (9.4%) had a recorded temperature of <35°C. Over half (395) were trauma patients, with a mortality of 52.7%. The temperature ranged from 27.1 to 34.9°C, with a mean for survivors of 34.0°C and 33.1°C for those that died. There was a significant difference in Apache II scores (16.6 vs 25.4) and Injury Severity Scores (26.1 vs 33.4) between survivors and non-survivors. Conclusions: The incidence of hypothermia in trauma patients is significant and is independent of the month of admission. Mortality is high but there is no threshold below which mortality is assured. Unlike historical data, 13 patients survived temperatures <32°C.