Search

Six cases of grave hypothermias are reported, having arisen during surgical interventions which necessitated a rapid and abundant transfusion of badly warmed blood. The role of favouring factors, surrounding cold due to the air-conditioning, anaesthesia, extent of the area of operation, seems important. The symptomatology permits the individualization of a hypothermic syndrom neighbouring the picture described in toxic accidental hypothermias. Accidents during the warming process associate collapse and disturbances in coagulation. It is therefore necessary to consider certain signs of alarm as important and generalize the conditions for prevention of thermolysis in the operating theatre.

Out of a total of 30 cases of traumatic tetraplegia with the lesion situated from C1 to C8 seen during the acute phase in the department of Professor JUDET, 8 posed no respiratory problems, whilst the others suffered lobar or pulmonary atelectasis in 13 cases, retention of bronchial secretions with secondary infection in 6 cases and progressive hypoxaemia in 3 cases. The first two types of complication are mechanical in origin and are directly related to the neurological problem. The third type is of more complex pathogenesis, combining water retention, hypoproetinaemia and secondary infection.