11.10:
Decreased Body Temperature
Conditions that decrease body temperature include hypothermia and frostbite.
Hypothermia occurs when the body temperature drops due to prolonged exposure to a cold environment, surpassing its ability to produce heat.
It can be caused accidentally due to exposure to a cold environment or can be induced deliberately for surgical or emergency treatment in an attempt to reduce metabolism.
Other causes include toxin exposures, metabolic imbalances, and infections.
Symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, memory loss, cyanosis, impaired judgment, bradycardia, bradypnea, and hypotension.
Severe hypothermia can cause cardiac dysrhythmias, unconsciousness, and insensitivity to pain.
Frostbite is a condition caused by prolonged exposure to extreme cold. This condition causes damage to the affected tissues.
It primarily affects the earlobes, nose, fingers, and toes.
In frostbite, ice crystals accumulate in cells, causing irreversible tissue damage. The affected region becomes white, waxy, stiff, and numb.
The symptoms include numbness, severe pain, and blisters. Extreme cases can lead to gangrene.
Hypothermia and frostbite can cause serious health risks if not treated promptly.
11.10:
Decreased Body Temperature
A decreased body temperature can occur in patients with hypothermia and frostbite. Heat loss with extended cold exposure overpowers the body's ability to create heat, resulting in hypothermia. Core temperature readings help classify hypothermia. Mild hypothermia is temperatures between 32 °C (89.6 °F) and 35°C (95 °F) and is caused by impaired thermoregulation. Moderate hypothermia is temperatures between 28 C (82.4 °F) and 32 °C (89.6 °F) caused by sustained extreme cold exposure, and severe hypothermia is temperatures below 28°C (82.4 °F) caused by prolonged exposure to extreme cold.
Hypothermia can be accidental, such as drowning in cold water, or intentionally caused during surgical or emergency treatments to reduce metabolism and the body's requirement for oxygen. Although hypothermia is most frequent in individuals exposed to low temperatures, it can also occur as a result of toxin exposure, metabolic imbalances, infections, and central nervous and endocrine system dysfunction. Accidental hypothermia is more common in older adults and goes unnoticed.
The symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, memory loss, depression, and impaired judgment. It can also cause a slowed heart rate, shallow breathing, weak pulse, and low blood pressure. The skin begins to get cyanotic. If hypothermia worsens, patients endure cardiac dysrhythmias and loss of consciousness and become insensitive to painful stimuli. In severe situations, a person exhibits clinical indications akin to death.
Frostbite develops when the body is exposed to temperatures below normal. Inside the cells, ice crystals accumulate, causing irreversible circulation and tissue damage. Earlobes, the tip of the nose, toes, and fingers, are particularly vulnerable to frostbite. The affected region turns white, waxy, and stiff to the touch, along with numbness. Interventions include slow warming, analgesia, and injured tissue protection.
Critical nursing interventions to prevent a further drop in body temperature include removing damp clothing, replacing it with dry garments, and ensuring patients are snugly covered with blankets. In an emergency outside of a hospital, have the patient rest under blankets adjacent to a warm person. A conscious patient benefits from consuming hot liquids like soup and avoiding alcohol and caffeinated beverages. It is also beneficial to cover the patient's head, bring the patient near the fire or in a warm room, or place heating pads close to regions of the body that lose heat the fastest, for example, the head and neck.