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While therapeutic hypothermia has been shown to improve neurologic outcomes in adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, its benefit in children remains unclear. In a randomized, controlled trial at 38 children's hospitals in the U.S. and Canada, investigators compared the efficacy of therapeutic hypothermia (target temperature, 33°C) and therapeutic normothermia (36.8°C) in 295 children aged 2 days to 18 years admitted after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
In the normothermia group, the target temperature was maintained for 120 hours. In the hypothermia group, the target temperature of 33°C was maintained for 48 hours, followed by a gradual rewarming to 36.8°C through the remainder of the 120-hour period. Patients with major trauma were e…