Methods of patient warming during abdominal surgery

Abstract

Background: Keeping abdominal surgery patients warm is common and warming methods are needed in power outages during natural disasters. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of low-cost, low-power warming methods for maintaining normothermia in abdominal surgery patients.

Methods: Patients (n = 160) scheduled for elective abdominal surgery were included in this prospective clinical study. Five warming methods were applied: heated blood transfusion/fluid infusion vs. unheated; wrapping patients vs. not wrapping; applying moist dressings, heated or not; surgical field rinse heated or not; and applying heating blankets or not. Patients' nasopharyngeal and rectal temperatures were recorded to evaluate warming efficacy. Significant differences were found in mean temperatures of warmed patients compared to those not warmed.

Results: When we compared temperatures of abdominal surgery patient groups receiving three specific warming methods with temperatures of control groups not receiving these methods, significant differences were revealed in temperatures maintained during the surgeries between the warmed groups and controls.

Discussion: The value of maintaining normothermia in patients undergoing abdominal surgery under general anesthesia is accepted. Three effective economical and practically applicable warming methods are combined body wrapping and heating blanket; combined body wrapping, heated moist dressings, and heating blanket; combined body wrapping, heated moist dressings, and warmed surgical rinse fluid, with or without heating blanket. These methods are practically applicable when low-cost method is indeed needed.

Figure 1. Selected groups of patients’ nasopharyngeal temperatures during surgery.

○ Control group; ▽ Body wraps and heating blanket group; □ Body wraps, heated moist dressing, and heating blanket group; • Heated blood transfusion and fluid infusion, body wraps, heated moist dressing, heated surgical field rinse, and heating blanket group. Mean ± SD, n  = 5, *P<0.05 compared to control group at end of surgery after Tukey’s test.

Figure 2. Selected groups of patients’ rectal temperatures during surgery.

○ Control group; ▽ Body wraps and heating blanket group; □ Body wraps, heated moist dressing, and heating blanket group; • Heated blood transfusion and fluid infusion, body wraps, heated moist dressing, heated surgical field rinse, and heating blanket group. Mean ± SD, n  = 5, *P<0.05 compared to control group at end of surgery after Tukey’s test.