Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0020672 (hypothermia)
 17,327 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Acute postoperative hypertension (APH) has been documented in the PACU. Over half of the patients who exhibit APH have pre-existing primary hypertension. Sustained blood pressure (BP) elevation increases the risk of myocardial ischemia, infarction, surgical site bleeding, or cerebral hemorrhage in these patients. Following surgery and anesthesia, increased sympathetic stimulation caused by a high level of circulating catecholamines can lead to APH. Some direct perioperative stimulants include pain, anxiety, hypoxia, hypercapnia, hypothermia, shivering, volume overload, and bladder distension. Nursing interventions are directed toward identifying and relieving the cause of APH. Antihypertensive drug therapy with vasodilators or adrenergic inhibitors is used if initial nursing interventions are not effective. Vasodilators frequently used are hydralazine, sodium nitroprusside, and nitroglycerin. Nicardipine has recently been introduced as an intravenous calcium channel blocker. Vasodilators are effective in BP reduction but may cause reflex tachycardia when used alone. Adrenergic inhibitors, such as esmolol and labetalol, block alpha and/or beta receptors to decrease heart rate and BP. Labetalol's effectiveness, relative freedom from side effects, and ease of administration have made it a useful drug in the treatment of APH.
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PMID:Acute postoperative hypertension in the hypertensive patient. 173 70

The effects of nicardipine, a calcium channel blocking agent, injected into the cerebral ventricles, (i.c.v.), on the body temperature of unanaesthetized cats have been investigated. Nicardipine produced a biphasic effect on body temperature: a transient dose-dependent decline followed by a longlasting elevation. The fall, but not the rise, of body temperature was associated with a dose-dependent increase in respiration. Yohimbine, in small doses, but not prazosin and propranolol, when injected into the cerebral ventricles, attenuated the hypothermia evoked by i.c.v. nicardipine. However, all the antagonists, except yohimbine in large doses, depressed the hyperventilation induced by nicardipine. Calcium chloride (i.c.v.) reversed, while i.c.v. methysergide virtually had no effect on hyperthermia caused by i.c.v. nicardipine. Nicardipine virtually had no effect on body temperature of intracerebroventricular reserpine- and alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine-treated cats. It appears, therefore, that nicardipine at least in part evoked hypothermia through alpha-2 adrenoceptors located presynaptically, while nicardipine-induced respiratory changes are mediated also partly via alpha-adrenoceptors having mixed alpha 1 and alpha 2 properties. The hyperthermic effect of nicardipine, on the contrary, is mainly due to an action on voltage-dependent calcium ion channels. The contribution of the hyperventilation to the hypothermic effect of nicardipine cannot be of great importance, since the hypothermia was accompanied with hypoventilation when alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents were used.
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PMID:Nature of hypo- and hyperthermia induced by the calcium antagonist nicardipine. 245 79

1. This study investigated the thermoregulatory effects of cocaine combined with two reported antidotal treatments for acute cocaine overdosage, calcium channel blocker therapy and cold ambient temperatures. 2. Cocaine and nicardipine alone lowered the core temperature of female guinea-pigs (ambient temperature, 5 degrees C) which resulted in a drop in core temperature of approximately 2 degrees C at their highest respective doses (40 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg). 3. Nicardipine administration 30 min prior to cocaine caused an almost 2-fold drop in temperature (3.75 degrees C) relative to either drug alone. 4. The data suggest that cocaine and nicardipine produce hypothermia by different, but additive, mechanisms.
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PMID:Additive hypothermic effects of cocaine and nicardipine in guinea-pigs. 772 Oct 32