Therapeutic hypothermia during neonatal transport

Aim: To compare the effectiveness of different cooling methods used during neonatal transport in maintaining target temperature. Methods: Retrospective review of transport data for all infants centralized for therapeutic hypothermia between April 2008 and October 2009. Results: A total of 46 infants were retrieved for therapeutic hypothermia during the study period. During transport, 10 infants were passively cooled, 17 infants were actively cooled with adjuncts and 19 infants were actively cooled with a purpose-built cooling machine. On arrival at the tertiary unit, 84% of infants who were actively cooled with a purpose-built cooling machine had temperatures within the therapeutic range compared with 47% of infants who were actively cooled with adjuncts and 20% of infants who were passively cooled. Conclusion: Passive cooling and cooling with adjuncts often fail to achieve temperatures within the desired therapeutic range. Therapeutic hypothermia during transport can be reliably achieved using a purpose-built cooling machine. We recommend that cooling during transport should only be undertaken using a purpose-built cooling machine.