Hypothermia Causes

Aka: Hypothermia Causes, Secondary Hypothermia

advertisement

II. Causes: Environmental exposure

  1. Cold water immersion or Submersion
  2. Cold Exposure

III. Causes: Altered Thermoregulation

  1. Endocrinopathy
    1. Hypothyroidism including Myxedema Coma
    2. Adrenal Insufficiency
    3. Pituitary or Hypothalamus dysfunction
    4. Diabetic Ketoacidosis (or Alcoholic Ketoacidosis)
    5. Lactic Acidosis
  2. Central neurologic disorders
    1. Acute Head Trauma
    2. Cerebrovascular Accident
    3. Brain Tumor
    4. Wernicke's Encephalopathy
    5. Parkinsonism
    6. Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
  3. Peripheral neurologic disorders
    1. Spinal Cord Transection
    2. Neuropathy
  4. Miscellaneous causes
    1. Anorexia Nervosa
    2. Shivering impaired (e.g. medications)
    3. Hypoglycemia or Malnutrition
    4. Extremes of age (very young or very old)

IV. Causes: Increased Heat Loss

  1. Septic Shock and other shock states
  2. Dermatitis
    1. Severe Burn Injury
    2. Severe skin exfoliation
    3. Severe Psoriasis
  3. Iatrogenic
    1. Therapeutic Hypothermia
    2. Over-correction of Heat Illness
    3. Cold fluid infusion

V. Causes: Substances

  1. Impact both increased heat loss and altered Thermoregulation
  2. Alcohol Intoxication
  3. Phenothiazines
  4. Benzodiazepines or Barbiturates

VI. References

  1. Brown (2012) N Engl J Med 367:1930-8 [PubMed]

Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)

These images are a random sampling from a Bing search on the term "Hypothermia Causes." Click on the image (or right click) to open the source website in a new browser window. Search Bing for all related images

Related Topics in Environmental Injury

advertisement