Temperature management for deliberate mild hypothermia during neurosurgical procedures

Deliberate mild hypothermia is safer from the point of view of adverse events and does not require a specific technique, unlike deep or moderate hypothermia. Therefore, mild hypothermia was widely used for neurosurgical procedures. Unfortunately, the neuroprotective efficacy of intraoperative mild hypothermia has not yet been proven; however, temperature management for intraoperative deliberate mild hypothermia has been improved over the past two decades. It is very important to achieve mild hypothermia before the commencement of the main surgery, and to maintain the patient’s body temperature until the procedure is completed. In addition, it is also important to complete rewarming by the end of the surgery so that an accurate neurological evaluation can be made. Regarding the effects of mild hypothermia on outcomes, a large randomized controlled study reported that unfavorable outcomes did not differ between participants with or without hypothermia. Apart from these unfavorable outcomes, it is known that temperature management during deliberate intraoperative mild hypothermia has contributed to improvement of anesthesia practice. The accumulation of experience in this field is important. Clinical interest in deliberate mild hypothermia is currently low; however, anesthesiologists should be prepared for the time when it is required again in the future.