Passive cooling during transport of asphyxiated term newborns

Objective:to evaluate the efficacy and safety of passive cooling during transport of asphyxiated newborns.study design:retrospective medical record review of newborns with perinatal asphyxia transported for hypothermia between july 2007 and june 2010.result:of 43 newborns transported, 27 were passively cooled without significant adverse events. twenty (74%) passively cooled newborns arrived with temperature between 32.5 and 34.5 °c. one newborn arrived with a temperature <32.5, and 6 (22%) had temperatures >34.5 °c. time from birth to hypothermia was significantly shorter among passively cooled newborns compared with newborns not cooled (215 vs 327 min, p<0.01), even though time from birth to admission to boston children’s hospital was similar (252 vs 259 min, p=0.77). time from birth to admission was the only significant predictor of increased time to reach target temperature (p=0.001).conclusion:exclusive passive cooling achieves significantly earlier initiation of effective hypothermia for asphyxiated newborns but should not delay transport for active cooling.