Thermoregulatory Vasoconstriction Impairs Active Core Cooling

Background: Many clinicians now consider hypothermia indicated during neurosurgery. Active cooling often will be required to reach target temperatures < 34 degrees Celsius sufficiently rapidly and nearly always will be required if the target temperature is 32 degrees Celsius. However, the efficacy even of active cooling might be impaired by thermoregulatory vasoconstriction, which reduces cutaneous heat loss and constrains metabolic heat to the core thermal compartment. The authors therefore tested the hypothesis that the efficacy of active cooling is reduced by thermoregulatory vasoconstriction.

Methods: Patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures with hypothermia were anesthetized with either isoflurane/nitrous oxide (n = 13) or propofol/fentanyl (n = 13) anesthesia. All were cooled using a prototype forced-air cooling device until core temperature reached 32 degrees Celsius. Core temperature was measured in the distal esophagus. Vasoconstriction was evaluated using forearm minus fingertip skin-temperature gradients. The core temperature triggering a gradient of 0 degree Celsius identified the vasoconstriction threshold.

Results: In 6 of the 13 patients given isoflurane, vasoconstriction (skin-temperature gradient = 0 degree Celsius) occurred at a core temperature of 34.4 plus/minus 0.9 degree Celsius, 1.7 plus/minus 0.5 h after induction of anesthesia. Similarly, in 7 of the 13 patients given propofol, vasoconstriction occurred at a core temperature of 34.5 plus/minus 0.9 degree Celsius, 1.6 plus/minus 0.6 h after induction of anesthesia. In the remaining patients, vasodilation continued even at core temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius. Core cooling rates were comparable in each anesthetic group. However, patients in whom vasodilation was maintained cooled fastest. Patients in whom vasoconstriction occurred required nearly an hour longer to reach core temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius than did those in whom vasodilation was maintained (P < 0.01).