Direct Splanchnic Perfusion Safely Avoids Deep Hypothermia

Deep hypothermia for the operative correction of congenital cardiac lesions protects hypoperfused organs, mostly because of its effect on lowering metabolic demand and oxygen requirement. Deleterious cerebral and extracranial side effects of deep hypothermia itself calls for a reexamination of the therapeutic value of hypothermia, and has led to the development of alternative perfusion strategies. Here we describe the potential advantages of milder hypothermia over deep hypothermia and our method of a practical and reproducible implementation of multisite perfusion under mild hypothermia (32°C).