Abstract
Maintenance of core body temperature in surgical patients presents a challenge to
perioperative nurses. Core temperatures less than 36°C are associated with multiple
adverse outcomes postoperatively. Internal redistribution of heat from the body core
to the colder periphery results in core temperature decreases of 0.5°C to 1.5°C in
the first 30 minutes after induction of anesthesia. The purpose of this study was
to determine if there was a difference in arrival temperatures to the PACU between
surgical patients who had been warmed preoperatively with a forced warm air blanket
and those patients warmed with cotton blankets. One hundred patients were randomly
assigned to receive prewarming by using a forced-air warm blanket (n = 50) or a cotton
blanket (n = 50). Temperatures were monitored every 15 minutes throughout the preoperative
and postoperative periods. Patients in the forced warm air group had significantly
higher temperatures on arrival to the PACU from the OR than did patients in the warm
blanket group (P =.000). Patients in the forced warm air group exhibited a change in temperature of
0.0067°C (±.52) compared with a decrease of 0.22°C (±.48) for patients in the control
group. © 2001 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses.
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Article info
Footnotes
*Address correspondence to Susan Fossum RN, BSN, CPAN, 1809 Rolling Hills Rd, Sacramento, CA 95864-1608; e-mail address: [email protected]
Identification
Copyright
© 2001 American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
