Application of ice water to the face in initial treatment of supraventricular tachycardia.

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a life-threatening dysrhythmia in childhood. Initial treatment includes classic vagal maneuvers, some pharmacological agents, cardioversion and application of ice water to the face. In this paper we report our results of ice water application to the face in SVT. The study included ten patients between the ages of seven days and 15 years who were admitted to our hospital with supraventricular tachycardia in the previous year. Ice water was applied to their faces for five seconds immediately and all of them were digitalized. This procedure was utilized in 28 out of 36 SVT attacks, and was found to be effective in restoring sinus rhythm on 27 of 28 occasions (96%). Tachycardia recurred a total of 18 times in three of the ten patients. There was no recurrence in six patients. No response was noted in only one patient. Application of ice water to the face is an easy, safe, effective and repeatable procedure in the initial treatment of supraventricular tachycardia.