Perioperative Hypothermia and the Impact of Forced-Air Prewarming

Inadvertent Perioperative hypothermia is a common anesthetic related complication of surgery, whereby one’s core temperature drops below 36° centigrade, and is associated with unfavorable outcomes such as delayed wound healing, cardiac events, hemorrhage, and risk of wound infection. The purpose of the project was to investigate the effectiveness of continuous versus intermittent forced-air warming (FAW) throughout the perioperative period, and the outcome measure of perioperative hypothermia for patients who underwent open colorectal or hysterectomy procedures. Faye Abdellah’s twenty-one nursing problems theory guided the project. Clinical question: Is there any difference between the utilization of continuous versus intermittent forced-air warming throughout the perioperative period, and the outcome measure of perioperative hypothermia in open colorectal and hysterectomy patients? A review was undertaken on 110 patient charts, 55 who had intermittent FAW in April and May, and 55 who had continuous FAW in June during the intervention to enforce continuous FAW. A quantitative comparative approach guided the project: Enforcement of continuous FAW intervention on arrival to the surgical suite for colorectal and hysterectomy procedures. Continuous FAW was implemented by the quality improvement committee of surgical services department several months before the project. Data analysis revealed pre-operative mean temperatures for intermittent FAW and continuous FAW: 36.1 °C and 36.5 °C respectively. Postoperative mean temperatures were 36.5 °C and 36.6 °C respectively, indicating there was no significant difference in continuous FAW on the outcome measure of perioperative hypothermia. The project could be replicated involving additional institutions and larger samples for better results