Hyperpyrexia in spinal injury patients.

We studied 13 spinal injury patients who had hyperpyrexia during an 18 month period (September 1984-March 1986) to discover if differences existed in the core temperature of patients with tetraplegia and those with paraplegia, and the contribution of these differences to the final outcome. Children were excluded from this study as well as patients with any sign of infection on first admission, patients with multiple injuries, and those referred from peripheral hospitals more than one week after injury. Patients with tetraplegia (C3-C7) had persistently high and uncontrollable core temperatures (average 39.5 degrees C) while those with paraplegia (T4-L5) showed lower core temperatures which were still high (average 38.1 degrees C). The difference in the average high core temperature (1.4 degrees C) is statistically significant. The lowest average core temperatures were about the same in tetraplegics and paraplegics (just over 35 degrees C). Four patients died: 3 tetraplegics and one paraplegic. Antipyretic analgesics were ineffective in reducing the high core temperatures.