Patient
Why you should ask to be warmed
Did you know?
Perioperative hypothermia is easily preventable by active warming.
Surgical patients become hypothermic due to the effects of anesthesia, and flannel blankets just aren’t enough.
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Normothermia
= the body’s ideal thermal stateClinical hypothermia
= core body temp less than 36°C -
Patients can lose up to 1.6°C core temperature
in the first 60 minutes of anaesthesia⁵
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Anaesthesia causes vasodilation,
which allows blood to flow freely to the cooler periphery.As the blood circulates it cools, returning back to the heart causing core temperature to drop. This is called redistribution temperature drop (RTD).⁶
The benefits to maintaining a core temperature greater than 36°C include
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Reduced rates of surgical site infection⁴,⁹,¹¹
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Increased patient comfort⁴
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Fewer morbid cardiac events⁴,¹⁰
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Reduction in the use of blood products⁴,⁸
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Faster recovery time, shorter stay⁴,⁷
The 3M solution
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Monitor core temperatureIt is important that your core body temperature is monitored so your health care professional can respond quickly to help prevent and avoid complications.
The 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Temperature Monitoring System offers an accurate, non-invasive, continuous method to easily measure core temperature throughout the perioperative process.
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Pre-warm with forced-air warmingPerioperative hypothermia is easier to prevent than treat.
Pre-induction warming with the 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Normothermia System banks heat in the patient’s periphery, which can help reduce the drop
in temperature caused by the redistribution temperature drop.¹² -
Maintain patient normothermiaThe 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Normothermia System includes a range of forced-air warming blankets and gowns, providing a reliable, effective solution to maintain normothermia during every stage of the surgical journey.
Infusion of cold fluids can reduce core temperature;⁴ warming intravenous fluids with the 3M™ Ranger™ Blood and Fluid Warming System helps prevent
this drop.
Learn why you should be warmed during surgery
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1. Brauer, A. et al, Realities of perioperative hypothermia: time for action, consensus document from an expert working group. Dec 2016. Unpublished.
2. Torossian, A. Survey on intraoperative temperature management in Europe, European Journal of Anaesthesiology 2007; 24: 668–675.
3. Young, V. Watson, M. Prevention of Perioperative Hypothermia in Plastic Surgery. Aesthetic Surgery Journal. 2006; 551–571.
4. Sessler DI, Kurz A. Mild Perioperative Hypothermia. Anesthesiology News. October 2008: 17–28.
5. Sessler, DI. Perioperative Heat Balance. Anesth. 2000; 92: 578–596.
6. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia: The management of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia in adults [CG65], published April 2008.
7. Lenhardt R, Marker E, Goll V, et al. Mild intraoperative hypothermia prolongs postanesthetic recovery. Anesthesiology.1997 ;87 (6): 1318–1323.
8. Schmied H, Kurz A, Sessler DI, Kozek S, Reiter A. Mild hypothermia increases blood loss and transfusion requirements during total hip arthroplasty. Lancet. 1996;347(8997):289–92.
9. Kurz A, Sessler DI, Lenhardt R. Perioperative normothermia to reduce the incidence of surgical wound infection and shorten hospitalisation. N Engl J Med 1996; 334: 1209–15.
10. Frank SM. Consequences of hypothermia. Current Anaesth & Critical Care. 2001: 12: 79–86.
11. Melling AC, Ali B, Scott EM, Leaper DJ. The effects of pre-operative warming on the incidence of wound infection after clean surgery: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2001; 358: 882–886.
12. Horn, E.P, Bein, B et al (2012) The effects of short time periods of pre-operative warming in the prevention of peri-operative hypothermia. Anaesthesia, Vol. 67, pp. 612–617.
