Using a Normothermia Bundle With Perioperative Prewarming to Reduce Patient Hypothermia

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Perioperative Medicine
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia (IPH) is a common complication.
• Maintaining normothermia is crucial for patient outcomes.
• Existing methods may not adequately prevent IPH.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a normothermia bundle in reducing IPH.
• To assess the impact of preoperative forced-air warming blankets on patient temperature.
• To measure improvements in perioperative temperature management.

Main Methods:

• Intervention study design.
• Retrospective chart review of 200 patients.
• Implementation of a normothermia bundle including preoperative warming blankets.

Main Results:

• Incidence of documented IPH decreased by 3.6-fold post-intervention.
• 50% of patients had no documented temperature intraoperatively.
• Compliance with intraoperative temperature monitoring decreased by 13%.

Conclusions:

• A normothermia bundle with preoperative warming blankets may reduce IPH.
• The intervention shows particular benefit in longer surgical cases (>120 minutes).
• Further research may refine temperature monitoring protocols.