Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2004 Dec;99(6):1742-1746.
doi: 10.1213/01.ANE.0000136777.71814.7A.

Conductive heat exchange with a gel-coated circulating water mattress

Anselm Bräuer  1 , Larissa Pacholik, Thorsten Perl, Michael John Murray English, Wolfgang Weyland, Ulrich Braun
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Conductive heat exchange with a gel-coated circulating water mattress

Anselm Bräuer et al. Anesth Analg. 2004 Dec.

Abstract

The use of forced-air warming is associated with costs for the disposable blankets. As an alternative method, we studied heat transfer with a reusable gel-coated circulating water mattress placed under the back in eight healthy volunteers. Heat flux was measured with six calibrated heat flux transducers. Additionally, mattress temperature, skin temperature, and core temperature were measured. Water temperature was set to 25 degrees C, 30 degrees C, 35 degrees C, and 41 degrees C. Heat transfer was calculated by multiplying heat flux by contact area. Mattress temperature, skin temperature, and heat flux were used to determine the heat exchange coefficient for conduction. Heat flux and water temperature were related by the following equation: heat flux = 10.3 x water temperature - 374 (r(2) = 0.98). The heat exchange coefficient for conduction was 121 W . m(-2) . degrees C(-1). The maximal heat transfer with the gel-coated circulating water mattress was 18.4 +/- 3.3 W. Because of the small effect on the heat balance of the body, a gel-coated circulating water mattress placed only on the back cannot replace a forced-air warming system.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Matsuzaki Y, Matsukawa T, Ohki K, et al. Warming by resistive heating maintains perioperative normothermia as well as forced air heating. Br J Anaesth 2003;90:689–91.
    1. Hynson JM, Sessler DI. Intraoperative warming therapies: a comparison of three devices. J Clin Anesth 1992;4:194–9.
    1. Kurz A, Kurz M, Poeschl G, et al. Forced-air warming maintains intraoperative normothermia better than circulating-water mattresses. Anesth Analg 1993;77:89–95.
    1. Janicki PK, Higgins MS, Janssen J, et al. Comparison of two different temperature maintenance strategies during open abdominal surgery: upper body forced-air warming versus whole body garment. Anesthesiology 2001;95:868–75.
    1. English MJM, Farmer C, Scott WAC. Heat loss in exposed volunteers. J Trauma 1990;30:422–5.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources