Evidence on the safety and efficacy of inducing and maintaining normothermia using temperature modulation devices to improve outcomes after stroke or subarachnoid haemorrhage is inadequate in quality and quantity. Therefore, this procedure should only be used in the context of research. Find out what only in research means on the NICE interventional procedures guidance page.
Further research should preferably be randomised controlled trials. It should report details of patient selection (including cause of fever, severity of stroke and neurological injury), method and duration of cooling, time from the neurological injury and onset of fever to starting cooling, complications related to the procedure and the device, neurological outcomes assessed using validated measures, and patient-reported outcomes (including quality of life) in the long term.