Reducing Hypothermia After Cardiac Ablation Using the ASPAN Normothermia Guidelines

The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if the integration of the ASPAN 2010 Normothermia Guidelines would reduce postprocedural hypothermia and recovery time in patients undergoing cardiac ablation under general anesthesia.

A retrospective cohort design over a continuous 12-week period was used.

Fifty-five patients were divided into 2 groups. The preintervention group (n = 26) consisted of patients who received care over a 6-week period before the implementation of the ASPAN 2010 Normothermia Guidelines. The postintervention group (n = 29) included patients who received care for 6 weeks with guidelines in place. An electronic health record review of cardiac ablation patients was conducted to compare the difference in PACU discharge times, the occurrence of hypothermia, and how well body temperature was maintained between the groups.

Hypothermia was detected in 3.85% of the preintervention group, while there was none in the postintervention group. Compared with the preintervention group (M = 53.6 minutes, SD = 18), patients meeting inclusion criteria in the postintervention group (M = 44.73 minutes, SD = 9.78) spent less time recovering from anesthesia in PACU; t(42) = 2.03, P = .048. Body temperatures in the preintervention group (M = -0.068°C, SD = 0.456) fell throughout the perioperative period while the postintervention group's temperature (M = 0.154°C, SD = 0.275) was higher following cardiac ablation; t (41) = -2.13, P= .04.

The ASPAN 2010 Normothermia Guidelines reduced recovery time and mitigated changes in patient temperatures throughout the periprocedure period in patients undergoing cardiac ablation under general anesthesia.