1 0 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 9
W
e know that
pre-opera-
tive warm-
ing can help prevent
hypothermia, which
will lead to improved
surgical outcomes,
fewer surgical site
infections, and much
happier patients who
won't miss shivering
and chattering teeth.
We're less certain
about the ideal warm-
ing protocols. How
long should you warm
patients in pre-op? At
what temperature
should you warm the
blankets that will
warm your patients? Is forced-air warming really an infection risk?
Luckily, there's no shortage of research on patient warming. Let's look
at 5 recent studies for some guidance.
1. No patient can live on intraop warming alone.
Many
believe that warming a patient during surgery is enough to prevent
Hot Takes on Patient Warming
Answers to your 5 burning questions on how
to safely and effectively prevent hypothermia.
• FORCING THE ISSUE A minimum of 30 minutes of pre-operative forced-air con-
vective warming can decrease intraoperative hypothermia, researchers found.
Gregory
P.
DeConciliis,
PA-C,
CASC
Paul Austin, CRNA, PhD | Fort Worth, Texas
