Normothermia versus hypothermia during pediatric cardiac surgery: No answer as yet

摘要

The interesting article by Caputo and colleagues in the November 2011 issue is the first work to compare normothermia and hypothermia during pediatric cardiac surgery in a randomized trial. We believe that the work deserves some comments. Renal failure is cause of morbidity and mortality when associated with pediatric cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Although the incidence is lower than in adults, this clinical condition may be quite severe in the pediatric population. The causes are still unknown, probably because of the many factors involved in the management of these patients. Some independent risk factors have been correlated with this clinical condition: preoperative renal dysfunction, CPB time, temperature during CPB, low body weight, low cardiac output, use of vasoactive drugs, and others. Even so, controversy still exists.