[Source: Eureka Alert] – NFL players and other athletes who suffer serious or multiple concussions may benefit from ground-breaking research being conducted by scientists at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. The scientists are developing a surgical technique that involves hypothermia in specific regions of the brain.
Therapeutic hypothermia is a medical treatment that lowers a patient’s temperature in order to help reduce the risk of injury to tissue. The endovascular intra-arterial cooling method being studied at Barrow rapidly preserves the injured portion of the brain and minimizes damage.
Results from the studies, which are being led by Barrow’s director of Neurosurgery Research Mark Preul, MD, have been published in academic journals such as Neurological Research.
For more information: Brain injured athletes may benefit from hypothermia research