Trial reportScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2024
Effect of a vapor barrier in combination with active external rewarming for cold-stressed patients in a prehospital setting: a randomized, crossover field study.
Trial report in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of a Vapor Barrier in Combination With Active External Rewarming for Patients
Prehospital Use of Forced Air Warming for Treatment of Accidental Hypothermia - A Pilot Study
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of active external rewarming on esophageal temperature in simulated prehospital accidental hypothermia: a randomized crossover trial.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025Trial
- Accidental hypothermia.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026Review
- Methods and equipment available for prehospital treatment of accidental hypothermia: a survey of Norwegian prehospital services.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUse of a vapor barrier in the prehospital care of cold-stressed or hypothermic patients aims to reduce evaporative heat loss and accelerate rewarming. The application of a vapor barrier is recommended in various guidelines, along with both insulating and wind/waterproof layers and an active external rewarming device; however, evidence of its effect is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effect of using a vapor barrier as the inner layer in the recommended "burrito" model for wrapping hypothermic patients in the field.
methodsIn this, randomized, crossover field study, 16 healthy volunteers wearing wet clothing were subjected to a 30-minute cooling period in a snow chamber before being wrapped in a model including an active heating source either with (intervention) or without (control) a vapor barrier. The mean skin temperature, core temperature, and humidity in the model were measured, and the shivering intensity and thermal comfort were assessed using a subjective questionnaire. The mean skin temperature was the primary outcome, whereas humidity and thermal comfort were the secondary outcomes. Primary outcome data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
resultsWe found a higher mean skin temperature in the intervention group than in the control group after approximately 25 min (p < 0.05), and this difference persisted for the rest of the 60-minute study period. The largest difference in mean skin temperature was 0.93 °C after 60 min. Humidity levels outside the vapor barrier were significantly higher in the control group than in the intervention group after 5 min. There were no significant differences in subjective comfort. However, there was a consistent trend toward increased comfort in the intervention group compared with the control group.
conclusionsThe use of a vapor barrier as the innermost layer in combination with an active external heat source leads to higher mean skin rewarming rates in patients wearing wet clothing who are at risk of accidental hypothermia.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05779722.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.