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S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P AT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
Active warming
should be used during cases
lasting longer than _________.
a.
30 minutes
b.
45 minutes
c.
60 minutes
d.
90 minutes
Answer:
c
The active warming of patients should be part
of any surgery that lasts longer than 60 min-
utes, according to the Surgical Care
Improvement Project and the Physician
Quality Reporting Initiative. A patient's core temperature is most likely to drop
during the first hour of surgery — by 1°C to 1.6°C, according to some estimates
— but risk of hypothermia increases the longer surgery lasts. Remember, to
comply with SCIP Measure 10, you must document at least 1 normothermic
temperature reading within the 30 minutes immediately before and the 15 min-
utes immediately after anesthesia end time.
There is clear evidence that warmed patients have far better surgical out-
comes than unwarmed ones. They have fewer infections, faster emergence from
anesthesia, better comfort and shorter stays in recovery. Warm patients are also
more satisfied. Therefore, this gesture of warming the patient can go a long way
toward patient satisfaction.
OSM
Dr. Criscitelli (
tcriscitelli@winthrop.org
) is assistant director of professional nursing
practice and education at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.
P A T I E N T W A R M I N G W A R M I N G
EVERY BIT HELPS Keep patients cov-
ered during surgery and maintain a
comfortable ambient OR temperature.
