Perioperative Warming to Decrease Inadvertent Hypothermia in the Adult Surgical Patient
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Authors
Yazdanpour, Nicole
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Nursing
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Abstract
Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia occurs in many patients during surgery and can lead to adverse outcomes including myocardial events, impaired drug metabolism, impaired wound healing, increase risk of surgical site infection, and reduced oxygen perfusion. Passive and active warming measures can minimize the incidence of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. However, passive warming alone is not sufficient. Active warming using a forcedair warming device for at least 30 minutes preoperatively has been shown effective to decrease the risk of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. A systematic review was performed to assess how perioperative active and passive warming decrease the risk for inadvertent perioperative hypothermia in an adult patient undergoing surgery. Research databases were utilized for specific articles regarding the topic of study. Relevant articles were included in the systematic review. A total of 15 studies were critiqued. Overall, active warming methods, alone or in conjunction with other warming methods, at least 30 minutes before entering the operating room can decrease the risk of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. Although each patient will experience a bout of hypothermia after induction of anesthesia medication, it is easier or a prewarmed patient to return to normothermia. As nurse practitioners, collaboration and education with the perioperative team and patient advocation regarding the effects and risk of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia are essential topics and can be addressed by a surgical nurse practitioner.
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Capstone Project
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Hawaii Pacific University