Effect of Early Sustained Prophylactic Hypothermia on Neurologic Outcomes Among Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: The POLAR Randomized Clinical Trial.

by | Dec 16, 2019 | 0 comments

Methodology Score: 3/5
Usefulness Score: 3/5

Cooper DJ, et al. JAMA. 2018;320(21):2211-2220. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.17075

Question/Methods: This study was done to determine the effectiveness of early prophylactic hypothermia compared with normothermic management of patients after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Findings:  No statistically significant difference in favorable neurologic outcomes at 6 months was found between the hypothermic and normothermic groups (48.8% vs 49.1%, respectively; (p=0.94)).

Major Limitations: A significant number of patients in the hypothermia group never reached the target temperature

Interpretation: This paper does not support the use of prophylactic hypothermia over normothermia in patients with TBI, and therefore should not change our current practice.

By: Dr. Maeghan Fu

Author

  • Hans Rosenberg

    Dr. Rosenberg is an emergency physician at the Ottawa Hospital, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, and Director of the Digital Scholarship and Knowledge Dissemination Program.

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