Methods
Study design and setting
This single-centre, retrospective, observational study was conducted in a tertiary emergency and critical care centre of a university hospital. Due to its retrospective nature, information regarding the conduct of this study was published on the hospital’s homepage in lieu of acquiring informed consent statements.
We included adult patients (≥18 years of age) who were treated with TTM after experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the emergency department between April 2013 and October 2019. The TTM protocol was modified in December 2017. In both protocols, all patients whose motor component of Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was 6, who did not receive treatment in our department, who had a whole brain ischaemia detected on CT scan after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and who discontinued the treatment were excluded.
Patients who were under the modified TTM protocol with a target temperature of 35°C (modified protocol group) were compared with those who were under the conventional TTM protocol with a target temperature of 34°C or 36°C (conventional protocol group) to evaluate the differences in their background characteristics, details on TTM, performance rate of TTM, completion rate of TTM and incidence of complications during TTM. The initiation of cooling using any kind of cooling device was considered as the performance of TTM. Completion of TTM was defined as striving to maintain the target temperature for at least 24 hours after achieving the target temperature. The complications of TTM included unstable haemodynamics (eg, bradycardia, hypotension, and arrhythmia), bleeding and electrolyte disturbances that required medication or intervention. Achievement of target temperature was defined as the time point where a temperature within 0.5°C from the target temperature was achieved. The performance rate was calculated by dividing the number of patients who were under TTM by the total number of patients with OHCA who were transported to our emergency room during the study period.
The relationship between the deviation rate from the target temperature and the mortality rate and neurological outcomes was evaluated. A temperature deviation of 0.5°C from the target temperature was regarded as a deviation from the target temperature. Temperatures >37°C and <33°C were defined as severe high and low deviations, respectively, regardless of the target temperature. The mortality rates and neurological outcomes at 30 days post-ROSC were evaluated. The neurological outcomes were assessed using the cerebral performance category (CPC) scores. CPC scores of 1–2 were defined as favourable, while CPC scores of 3–5 were considered as unfavourable.
The factors that influenced temperature deviation were identified. The patients’ characteristics (eg, age, sex, body weight and body surface area (BSA)), prehospital factors (eg, witness of collapse, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), initial rhythm, prehospital ROSC and cause of arrest), and measurement and treatment performed after hospital arrival (eg, motor component of GCS, extracorporeal CPR, coronary angiography, ROSC to target temperature time, sedatives and neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) used during TTM) were the candidate factors that causes deviation from the target temperature.
Patient care
The target temperature (34°C or 36°C) for the conventional protocol was selected by the attending doctor. Target temperature was maintained longer than 24 hours in both protocols. No drastic differences were observed in patient care provided in both the conventional and modified TTM protocols, except for the target temperature.
If a target temperature of 34°C or 35°C was selected, cooling was initiated in the emergency room immediately after ROSC, with the injection of 4°C crystalloid and the subsequent use of cooling devices once the patient was admitted to the ICU. If the target temperature was 36°C, cooling and warming were initiated if necessary in the emergency room, and temperature management devices were used after admission to the ICU.
The period for maintaining the target temperature was at least 24 hours, and the rewarming rate was no more than 0.25°C/hour, regardless of the target temperature, except for the 36°C protocol.
The Medi-Therm III (Gaymar Industries, New York, USA), Arctic San (Medivance, Louisville, USA), Thermoguard (ZOLL Circulation, San Jose, USA), and heater exchanger for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO, Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) were used as cooling devices depending on the situation. The patients’ body temperature was measured via the inserted thermometer bladder catheter. All patients were continuously administered with NMBAs (vecuronium bromide or rocuronium) and sedatives (midazolam or propofol) until completion of rewarming, while analgesics (fentanyl) usually continued after rewarming. The medications or interventions used for the management of complications, including antiepileptic or osmouretic drugs, were decided by the attending physicians based on the individual patient’s clinical status.
After rewarming, NMBAs and sedatives were immediately discontinued to promote reawakening, and the body temperature was maintained below 37.5°C using ice packs, antipyretics, or a cooling device when temperature control was difficult. Brain CT, MRI and electroencephalography (EEG) examinations were performed as required for neurological assessment after TTM. When a patient was considered unlikely to recover consciousness, evidenced by the disappearance of the brainstem reflection, global brain ischaemia on CT scan, a flat-lined EEG, or significant abnormalities in the results of other examinations, the attending physician discussed the ‘do not attempt resuscitation’ procedures with the patient’s kin; then, the induction of new treatment was abandoned or withheld on reaching an agreement.
Data collection
Information including patients’ characteristics, prehospital data, treatment received in hospital, 30-day mortality rates and neurological outcomes were retrieved from the emergency medical team and hospital medical records.
Data on the temperature (288 points) measured per patient within the 24-hour period of TTM with a 5-min interval were collected. If TTM was discontinued due to death, complications, or other reasons, only the temperature data until abandonment of TTM were collected. All available temperature records of patients with missing data were collected. The deviation rate was obtained by dividing the deviated numbers by the observed temperature points. Temperature data of <25°C were excluded as it was not plausible under the condition of temperature control.
Statistical analysis
Categorical variables are expressed as frequencies and percentages, while continuous variables are expressed as medians with IQRs.
The χ2 test for categorical variables and Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric continuous variables were used to compare the background characteristics and details of TTM between the conventional and modified protocol groups.
To assess the relationship between deviation rate from target temperature and mortality rates and neurological outcomes, the binomial logistic regression analysis was used. Four types of temperature deviations (>+0.5°C or <−0.5°C compared with the target temperature, >37°C, and <33°C) were evaluated. After performing a univariate analysis, a multivariate analysis adjusted for age, sex, witness, bystander CPR, initial rhythm, cause of arrest and time from ROSC to target temperature was performed.
To identify the factors that influence temperature deviation during TTM, a χ2 test was used for each candidate factor; subsequently, multiple regression analysis was performed to specify the factors that influenced the deviation from the target temperature. Age, sex, BSA, cooling devices and NBMA and sedative doses were included as adjustment factors. As different NMBAs (eg, vecuronium bromide and rocuronium bromide) were used depending on the patients’ clinical status, the mean doses per hour was divided into three levels based on the dose stipulated in the medication package insert (vecuronium bromide: <0.02 mg/kg/hour, 0.02–0.04 mg/kg/hour, and 0.04 mg/kg/hour <; rocuronium bromide: <0.1 mg/kg/hour, 0.1–0.2 mg/kg/hour, and 0.2 mg/kg/hour<); the same process was also followed for sedatives (midazolam: <0.03 mg/kg/hour, 0.03–0.06 mg/kg/hour, and 0.06 mg/kg/hour; propofol: <0.3 mg/kg/hour, 0.3–3.0 mg/kg/hour and 3.0 mg/kg/hour<).
All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software V.27 (IBM).