at reducing post-op
hypothermia than
FAW during surgery?
A study published in
Orthopaedic Nursing
claims it is.
In the study
(osmag.net/9BpBGw),
researchers broke
patients who under-
went total joint proce-
dures (hips and
knees) into a forced-
air (FAW) group and a
self-warming (SW) blanket group. The FAW group were only warmed in
the OR after the surgical site was prepped. The SW group, on the other
hand, was warmed preoperatively for nearly an hour and a half before
the induction of anesthesia. Researchers measured patients' tempera-
tures preoperatively upon arrival and again post-operatively.
They observed post-op hypothermia in 31.3% of the FAW group, com-
pared to just 14% of patients in the SW group. This led researchers to
conclude that the longer a patient is warmed pre-op, the warmer that
patient's temperature will be post-op. But the study also concluded that
"early warming with SW blankets was more effective than FAW devices
[intraoperatively] in the prevention of post-op hypothermia in elective
[hip and knee arthroplasty]."
OSM
1 0 6 • 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
• ADDED BONUS Not only can prewarming for as little as 10 minutes reduce the
likelihood of hypothermia, it can also lessen patient anxiety and bolster their overall
satisfaction.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
Dr. Austin (paustin@txwes.edu) is a professor of nurse anesthesia at Texas
Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.
