Simple Cost-Effective Alternative to Fluid and Blood Warming System to Prevent Intraoperative Hypothermia

Fluid and blood warming devices are useful in situations of massive transfusions and in pediatric patients. However, the initial cost and disposable nature of many of these devices are a major hindrance in their efficient utilization. We report a simple cost-effective means of warming blood and other fluids, consisting of intravenous tubing coiled around the hose of a convective body warmer before its connection to the patient. A simple experiment using normal saline as fluid and a plastic bottle as a receptacle was also conducted to quantitate and validate the temperature rise by our technique. Overall temperature increase was a mean (± SD) of 6.11°C ± 3.17°C. The rise in temperature was highest (7.57°C ± 3.88°C) with flow rates below 10 mL/min and a higher temperature setting of 42°C. Such low-cost techniques help overcome resource deficits in developing countries and improve patient care.