Perioperative Warming in Surgical Patients: A Comparison of Interventions.

The four arm study investigates how use of a preoperative forced-air warming blanket and adjustment of ambient surgical room temperature may contribute to prevention of perioperative hypothermia. Active warming interventions may prevent the drop in core temperature that occur as a result of surgical anesthesia. Core body temperatures from a convenience sample of 220 adult surgical patients were sequentially monitored in the preoperative, intraoperative, and post-anesthesia care units (PACU) while receiving: (a) routine surgical care, (b) application of preoperative forced-air warming blanket, (c) application of preoperative forced-air warming blanket with adjustment of ambient surgical room temperatures, or (d) adjustment of ambient surgical room temperature only.