Authors

Diego Sorli Latorre1, Noelia Rubio Lahoz2, Patricia Sorli Latorre3

Position

1Enfermero y Máster en Salud Pública. Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa (Zaragoza)2Enfermera. Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa (Zaragoza) 3Enfermera. Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet (Zaragoza)

Contact address

Diego Sorli Latorre. C/ Viñedo Viejo, 2, escalera 8, 4º A. 50009 Zaragoza

Contact email: diegoette@hotmail.com

Abstract

Objective: to determine the frequency of hypothermia during the perioperative period in patients undergoing scheduled surgery under general anaesthesia, and to understand the personal and environmental factors that have an impact on the development of hypothermia during the surgical period.
Method: a longitudinal descriptive pilot study was conducted in the Surgical Unit of the Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa of Zaragoza, from June to October, 2015.
The study population was formed by those patients undergoing surgery who met the inclusion criteria. The study collected sociodemographical variables, environmental variables (Operating Room temperature, type of procedure and its duration, size of the surgical wound, saline therapy, anaesthetic gases, warming systems) and thermal variables (temperature at baseline, pre and post anaesthetic induction, and every 20 minutes during the perioperative period and the recovery from anesthesia, until discharge from the Post-anaesthetic Care Unit with recorded development of hypothermia. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was conducted.  
Results: the total sample included 25 patients who presented a mean intraoperative reduction of 0.7 ºC from their initial temperature. Out of these patients, 40% presented mild hypothermia during the surgical procedure, which occurred during the first hour in 92% of cases. A 24% of patients suffered hypothermia during the post-operative period, and half of them had already developed it previously during the intraoperative period.
Conclusion: there is a higher frequency of intraoperative vs. postoperative hypothermia, generally recorded during the first hour of surgery and within the first 30 minutes of recovery from anaesthesia. Longer surgery duration and a larger wound size will favour the development of hypothermia.

Keywords:

Body temperature; hypothermia; general anaesthesia; perioperative period; warming systems

Versión en Español

Título:

Prevención y manejo de la hipotermia en el periodo perioperatorio