J U LY 2 0 1 6 O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T 2 7
W
hen you
actively
warm
patients
from pre-
op straight through to
PACU, you're doing a lot
more for them than stop-
ping the shivers. You're
also helping to control
their pain and prevent surgical site infections (SSIs). Read on to find out more
about how you can avoid serious adverse effects associated with hypothermia
by using active warming methods.
• Pain control. Over 30 years of anesthesia practice and reams of research
have taught me that perioperative hypothermia (even mild hypothermia) has a
profound impact on pain control, and optimizing surgical patients' perioperative
The value of maintaining
normothermia extends
beyond contentment
into the not-so-obvious
areas of infection
prevention and pain
management.
• JUST THE START Actively warming patients in pre-op is not enough to prevent hypothermia.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN
Wes Webster,
MSN, RN, CRNA
Greensboro, N.C.
Hidden Benefits of
Patient Warming
