Effect of Wet Clothing Removal Compared to Use of a Vapor Barrier in Accidental Hypothermia

NCT ID: NCT05996757

Last Updated: 2023-08-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 8 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-03-20
• Study Completion Date: 2017-03-21

Brief Summary

The optimal method of prehospital insulation and rewarming of hypothermic patients have been subject of debate, and there is a substantial lack og high-quality evidence to guide providers.

One question concerns whether or not the patients clothing should be removed prior to being wrapped in an insulating model with a vapor barrier. Evaporative heat loss is one of four mechanisms of heat loss, and preventing evaporative heat loss should be a prioritized task for providers. Removal of wet clothing usually means subjecting the patient to the environment, but will reduce the evaporative heat loss considerably. An other alternative is to encapsulate the patient in a vapor barrier. Evaporative heat loss will stop when the humidity inside the vapor barrier reaches 100%.

We aim to investigate whether it is recommended to removed wet clothing or encase the patient in a vapor barrier.

Conditions

Accidental Hypothermia; Emergencies

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Wet clothing removal

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Wet clothing removal

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

The participants in the intervention group will have their clothing removed prior to insulation.

Vapor barrier

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Wet clothing removal

The participants in the intervention group will have their clothing removed prior to insulation.

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age <18
• American Society of Anaesthesiologists class 1
• No nicotine use

Exclusion Criteria

• Acute illness on study day, fever or malaise

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Haukeland University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Øyvind Thomassen, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Haukeland University Hospital

Locations

Haukeland University Hospital

Bergen, , Norway

Countries

Norway

References

Henriksson O, Lundgren PJ, Kuklane K, Holmer I, Giesbrecht GG, Naredi P, Bjornstig U. Protection against cold in prehospital care: wet clothing removal or addition of a vapor barrier. Wilderness Environ Med. 2015 Mar;26(1):11-20. doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2014.07.001.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 25712295 (View on PubMed)

Hagen LT, Brattebo G, Dipl-Math JA, Wiggen O, Osteras O, Mydske S, Thomassen O. Effect of wet clothing removal on skin temperature in subjects exposed to cold and wrapped in a vapor barrier: a human, randomized, crossover field study. BMC Emerg Med. 2024 Jan 25;24(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12873-024-00937-8.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 38273259 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2017/150

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id