Use of Therapeutic Hypothermia Decreased After Publication of the Targeted Temperature Management Trial

In 2002, two large studies suggested that therapeutic hypothermia significantly improved neurologically favorable survival in patients who were comatose after being resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (NEJM JW Gen Med Mar 15 2002 and N Engl J Med 2002; 346:549 and 557). In 2013, the Targeted Temperature Management (TTM) trial showed similar outcomes for patients treated with hypothermia to a targeted temperature of 33°C or 36°C; NEJM JW Emerg Med Jan 2014 and N Engl J Med 2013; 369:2197). Target temperature was maintained in both groups using active measures (cold fluids, ice packs, intravascular or surface cooling devices). These authors measured whether use of TTM changed after publication of the trial.

Using a large registry …