Cooling therapy for the management of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy in middle-income countries: we can, but should we?

In the past decade a large number of studies of cooling for the treatment of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy have been reported from middleincome countries (MIC), yet credible evidence of its safety and efficacy is still lacking. Although cooling therapy should not be considered in settings which lack basic neonatal care, many neonatal units in India and other MIC have excellent tertiary neonatal intensive care facilities. Most of these centres now routinely offer cooling therapy in clinical practice using a wide range of devices including ice and phase-change material (PCM). A large trial (HELIX: Hypothermia for Encephalopathy in Low- and Middle-Income Countries) involving 408 infants with moderate and severe encephalopathy in seven tertiary academic neonatal units in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh recently completed recruitment, and assessment of the neurodevelopmental outcome is ongoing. Considering the differences in population co-morbidities and the strong association between increased neonatal mortality and hypothermia, it would be prudent for clinicians in tertiary neonatal units in MIC to await the results of the HELIX trial before offering cooling therapy as standard care.