Effectiveness of Early Warming With Self-Warming Blankets on Postoperative Hypothermia in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.

Background: Hypothermia is an important complication in joint arthroplasty. Commonly, forced air warming (FAW) devices are used intraoperatively to maintain body temperature in patients undergoing surgery. However, it is believed that these convective warming systems could increase the risk of deep surgical site infections due to disruption of unidirectional downward laminar airflow.