%0 Journal Article %A Vânia Oliveira %A Dev Prya Singhvi %A Paolo Montaldo %A Peter J Lally %A Josephine Mendoza %A Swati Manerkar %A Seetha Shankaran %A Sudhin Thayyil %T Therapeutic hypothermia in mild neonatal encephalopathy: a national survey of practice in the UK %D 2018 %R 10.1136/archdischild-2017-313320 %J Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition %P F388-F390 %V 103 %N 4 %X Although major cooling trials (and subsequent guidelines) excluded babies with mild encephalopathy, anecdotal evidence suggests that cooling is often offered to these infants. We report a national survey on current cooling practices for babies with mild encephalopathy in the UK. From 74 neonatal units contacted, 68 were cooling centres. We received 54 responses (79%) and included 48 (five excluded due to incomplete data and one found later not to offer cooling). Of these, 36 centres (75%) offered cooling to infants with mild encephalopathy. Although most of the participating units reported targeting 33–34°C core temperature, seven (19%) considered initiating cooling beyond 6 hours of age and 13 (36%) discontinued cooling prior to 72 hours. Babies were ventilated for cooling in two (6%) units and 13 (36%) sedated all cooled babies. Enteral feeding was withheld in 15 (42%) units and reduced below 25% of requirements in eight (22%) units. MRI and neurodevelopmental outcome evaluation were offered to all cooled babies in 29 (80%) and 27 (75%) units, respectively. Further research is necessary to ensure optimal neuroprotection in mild encephalopathy. %U https://fn.bmj.com/content/fetalneonatal/103/4/F388.full.pdf