Sustained normothermia in septic shock and the energy transfer required: a report of a pilot feasibility study using newer-generation surface cooling devices

There is significant uncertainty about the potential role of temperature control in the intensive care unit (ICU) in general, but more specifically in septic shock patients.1,2 Common techniques for temperature control have been limited by minimal effect (eg, paracetamol, fans or air blankets), undesirable side effects (eg, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories), or being burdensome (eg, heavy sedation, paralysis with surface cooling; intravascular cooling devices3). In contrast, the potential of newer-generation surface-cooling devices to achieve temperature control more simply has created the possibility of studying temperature modulation in the septic ICU population.