Przyczyny, rodzaje i zasady postępowania w hipertermii

*Daria Schetz ¹, Jerzy Foerster²

Summary
The paper discusses medical causes and proper treatment in the case of hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is known as a medical condition caused by the failure of thermoregulation, when body temperature becomes dangerously high. In the case of inappropriate treatment the patient is at risk of death or disability. There are several symptoms jointly or separately related to hyperthermia such as: very high body temperature, oedemata, mussels spasms, faints, tetany, and disorientation. To begin with, it is possible to distinguish environmental conditions causing hyperthermia. In the case of the risk of health breakdown the crucial factor is time necessary to provide the first, relatively simple, medical help. Of course, if the hyperthermia is very advanced, the patient’s condition can drastically go down. This situation demands special medical procedure. Namely, it is necessary to immediately decrease body temperature below 38.8°C, using physical everyday practical means (cold water, ice, etc.), or using pharmacological knowledge. However, it is worth noticing that there exists a danger resulting from physical methods of temperature decreasing which consists in the converse effect (when the vascular spasm causes temperature retention). So it is important to assure that the patient is permanently monitored in regard to his or her body temperature. Second, one can distinguish after-drug hyperthermia. It seems frequently neglected that some failures of thermoregulation can be caused by ingredients of some drugs. If any drug causes hyperthermia symptoms, it is necessary to withhold immediately its application. It is recommended, as the next step of restoring proper body temperature, some symptomatic palliative treatment.

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