Body temperature, which is systematically measured and reported as a vital sign, contributes to maintenance of normal physiology and affects the processes that lead to recovery after illness.
In 2005, the American Heart Association implemented recommendations and guidelines for mild hypothermia in post-resuscitation support after cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation.
[3] Therapeutic hypothermia, which lowers the patient's body temperature to levels between 32–34 °C (90–93 °F), is used to help reduce the risk of the ischemic injury to the brain following a period of insufficient blood flow.
Because of the Arctic Sun's noninvasive nature, treatment can be delivered without the host of adverse events associated with invasive procedures such as cooling catheters.
A study published in 2007 found that the Arctic Sun caused "skin erythema during the cooling period... in almost all patients," but that no pressure ulcers or frostbite was noted.
[citation needed] Historically, clinicians reported that catheters cool at a quicker rate,[citation needed] however, a 2011 study published in the Society of Critical Care Medicine where 167 patients treated either with the Arctic Sun or the Alsius Coolgard Catheter demonstrated time from cardiac arrest to achieving mild therapeutic hypothermia was equal with both devices.