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News - Advocate Lutheran Gen Hosp, Park Ridge Illinois USA |
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| Advocate Lutheran Gen Hosp |
| Cooling Therapy offered at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Minimizes Morbidity and Mortality of N |
| Date : - 06/04/2009 |
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Advocate Lutheran General Hospital is offering an exciting new therapy utilizing temperature controlled blankets to help prevent or reduce brain damage of newborn babies deprived of oxygen during difficult births. Just three days of total body cooling therapy reduces the baby’s body temperature to 92.8 degrees to minimize morbidity and mortality rates.
The Blanketrol III Hyper-hypothermia system from Cincinnati Sub-Zero helps Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nursing staff to treat patients suffering moderate to severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), an important cause of death and disability in infants which occurs at 1.5 to 2 per 1000 live births in the United States. Approximately 15 to 20 percent of these infants will die, and 20 to 25 percent will be disabled. Morbidities include cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness and severe retardation. The New England Journal of Medicine (2005) reported systemic hypothermia resulted in a significant 18 percent reduction in the rate of death or moderate or severe disability at 18 to 22 months of age.
“During HIE, there is a decreased flow of oxygen enriched blood to the brain, which is a major cause of seizures and neurodevelopmental impairment in term infants,” said Cheryl Fornowski, RN, BSN, NICU clinical educator. “Hypothermia is the only therapy believed to reduce brain injury associated with HIE, but it must be started as soon as possible. We’re very excited to have this technology to offer to our patients.”
This new program was introduced at Lutheran General in November by Raghbir Sinh Benawra, M.D., Fornowski, and a specialized team of nurses and physicians. Currently a nurse on each shift is trained on the technology with a goal that every NICU nurse will be trained during 2009.
The baby is placed on a cooling blanket and a patient probe that measures the baby’s internal temperature is attached to the cooling machine, which helps keep the baby’s temperature within the preset range. Treatment starts within six hours of birth and is complete in 72 hours. During that time, vital signs are continually monitored, lab work is drawn, medication for pain or discomfort is administered and neurological status is continuously monitored. Babies are not moved unnecessarily but are turned at least every two hours during treatment. During treatment, the baby’s brain needs to stay ‘quiet’ as much as possible, parents are encouraged to touch the baby firmly, rather than stroking and to talk softly. After 72 hours, when the baby is rewarmed by 0.2 degrees Celsius every 30 minutes to reach 36 degrees, they can hold, stroke, bathe and participate in all baby care.
Babies qualifying for the hypothermia cooling must meet five criteria: they must be greater or equal to 35 weeks gestation, greater or equal to 2 kg birth weight, less than or equal to six hours of birth, have two or more abnormal neurological findings and one or more predictors of severe HIE.
Nursing staff at Lutheran General look forward to treating qualified patients with the cooling therapy. “It’s exciting to be able to provide for this unique niche of patients,” Fornowski added.
Lutheran General Hospital is a 617-bed teaching, research and referral hospital, a Level I trauma center, and one of the largest hospitals in the Chicago area. It also is home to Advocate Lutheran General Children’s Hospital, the only children’s hospital in the greater north and northwest suburban region of Chicago and a major regional referral center for a broad range of infant and pediatric services.
Lutheran General has been recognized 10 times as one of the 100 Top Hospitals and 15 top major teaching hospitals in the country. Since 1999, Lutheran General has been rated by US News & World Report as being one of America’s Best Hospitals, and received ‘top 50 in the nation’ rankings for medical excellence and advanced capabilities in many specialties.
Lutheran General is the only hospital in the state and one of just 17 in the country recognized by the Hospital Quality Alliance as having better-than-the-national average results for patients with heart attacks. In addition, the hospital is certified as a primary stroke center by the Joint Commission in recognition of its exceptional outcomes for these patients.
The hospital also was the first in the north and northwest suburbs to be awarded the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s prestigious Magnet designation, the highest honor and level of nursing excellence in the nation.
Lutheran General Hospital is part of Oak Brook-based Advocate Health Care, which is the largest health care provider in Illinois and one of the nation’s top health care systems.
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| Reference : - www.advocatehealth.com/luth/ |
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