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Treatment

Pediatric Hypothermia Whole Body Cooling

Whole body hypothermia provides cerebral (brain) protection for newborns affected by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). This complication occurs when there is a reduced level of oxygen (hypoxia) or blood flow (ischemia) to the baby's brain or body. 

Whole-body cooling places newborns on a water-filled cooling mattress to reduce body temperature to 92°F for three days, which is long enough to interrupt brain injury. After the three days, your baby recovers to a normal body temperature in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with continuous EEG (electroencephalogram) neuromonitoring. Our cooling program follows the National Institute of Health's Neonatal Network protocol, which demonstrates a reduction in death or serious disability for infants who develop serious neonatal encephalopathy within six hours of birth.

Meet the Hypothermia Whole Body Cooling Providers

Patient Stories

  • Avery's Story

    Faced with an APGAR score of one, which indicated Avery was struggling, the team quickly recognized the infant had hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), one of the most severe complications that can affect full-term infants.

  • Sadie's Story

    Sadie is one of hundreds of infants with acute encephalopathy who have received whole-body therapeutic hypothermia at the Children's National neonatal intensive care unit. Whole-body therapeutic hypothermia is offered in the first few hours of life to preserve brain cells and to stave off disability or death.

Departments that Offer Hypothermia Whole Body Cooling

    Neonatal Neurology and Neonatal Neurocritical Care Program

    The Neonatal Neurology and Neurocritical Care Program at Children's National is the only one of its kind in the mid-Atlantic region and a leader in advancing neurologic care to some of our most critically ill newborns.

    Young baby sleeping in NICU bed

    Neonatology

    Whether your infant has arrived prematurely or has a critical illness, the Children's National Hospital's top-ranked team assists in coordinating every service you and your baby need, including consultations, assessments, emergency treatments and continuing care.

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