Failure to heat the body core during rewarming from severe hypothermia can result in hypotension and shock.
Mechanism: peripheral reflex vasodilation, low cardiac output
Clinical and laboratory findings:
(1) history of severe hypothermia
(2) recent external rewarming without central rewarming
(3) afterdrop (after drop) in core body temperature
(4) hypotension
(5) renal, cardiac and other organ failures
(6) lactic acidosis
(7) ventricular arrhythmias leading to ventricular fibrillation
The diagnosis requires exclusion of other explanations for shock.
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Specialty: Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Cardiology
ICD-10: ,
