Humans put into suspended animation for first time

[Judi Lynn]

Groundbreaking trial in US rapidly cools trauma victims with catastrophic injury to buy more time for surgery

Ian Sample Science editor
@iansample
Wed 20 Nov 2019 10.06 EST

Doctors have put humans into a state of suspended animation for the first time in a groundbreaking trial that aims to buy more time for surgeons to save seriously injured patients.

The process involves rapidly cooling the brain to less than 10C by replacing the patient’s blood with ice-cold saline solution. Typically the solution is pumped directly into the aorta, the main artery that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body.

Known formally as emergency preservation and resuscitation, or EPR, the procedure is being trialled on people who sustain such catastrophic injuries that they are in danger of bleeding to death and who suffer a heart attack shortly before they can be treated. The patients, who are often victims of stabbings or shootings, would normally have less than a 5% chance of survival.

Samuel Tisherman, at the University of Maryland, in Baltimore, described the trial at a recent symposium held by the New York Academy of Sciences. He said at least one patient had had the procedure but did not elaborate on whether that patient or any others had survived. The first time the team performed the process was “a little surreal”, he told New Scientist magazine.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/20/humans-put-into-suspended-animation-for-first-time

[TexasTowelie]

1. Guinea pigs or lab rats for Dr. Frankenstein.

The doctors involved in this experiment need to take a biomedical ethics course.

[cstanleytech]

2. If I am reading it correctly they are limiting to those that would otherwise have a grim chance

at best of surviving given current medical treatment.

[TexasTowelie]

3. I read that also,

but it doesn't counter the fact that they were conducting an experiment. During the time that they were setting up the apparatus to conduct the experiment what were the doctors doing to treat the injuries and did the doctors have a viable treatment plan while the patient was in suspended animation?

[cstanleytech]

4. You would have to ask them but if I was to guess I suspect its cases when

the surgeon they need that can do the job cannot arrive on site at the patients location soon enough.
That and other issues such as the injuries are so traumatic that trying the surgery would be futile unless they could find a way to slow the patients metabolism enough to give the surgeon time enough to hopefully do the needed procedures.

[Quackers]

5. I think I can provide some answers for you.

i think this is the information you’re looking for. I pulled this from the study directives.

“ Study participants will be those with penetrating trauma who remain pulseless despite an emergency department thoracotomy.”

In other words, they have already attempted other methods to stabilize them but failed.

Here is the full study and parameters involved. Hope it helps!

https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/media/SOM/Departments/Anesthesiology/Faculty--Staff/Certified-Registered-Nurse-Anesthetists/docs/epr-trauma.pdf

[Quackers]

6. I posted this info in a reply to someone else, but thought you might benefit from it in your OP.

Development of the emergency preservation and resuscitation for cardiac arrest from trauma clinical trial.

https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/media/SOM/Departments/Anesthesiology/Faculty--Staff/Certified-Registered-Nurse-Anesthetists/docs/epr-trauma.pdf