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Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Esophageal Heat Transfer for Patient Temperature Control and Targeted Temperature Management
Published on: November 21, 2017
Core temperature following pre-hospital induction of anaesthesia in trauma patients
Roy Fischer1,2, Paul F Lambert1,2
1MedSTAR/Rescue, Retrieval and Aviation Services, South Australian Ambulance Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Introduction:
Hypothermia is a well-recognised finding in trauma patients, which can occur even in warmer climates. It is an independent predictor of increased morbidity and mortality. It is associated with pre-hospital intubation, although the reasons for this are likely to be multifactorial. Core temperature drop after induction of anaesthesia is a well-known phenomenon in the context of elective surgery, and the mechanisms of this are well established.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective observational study to examine the behaviour of core temperature in patients undergoing pre-hospital anaesthesia for traumatic injuries.
Results:
Between 2017 and 2021 data were collected on 48 patients. The data from 40 of these were included in the final analysis.
Discussion:
Our data do not show a decrease in the core temperatures of patients who receive pre-hospital anaesthesia, unlike patients who are anaesthetised without pre-warming, in operating theatres. The lack of a change could relate to patient, anaesthetic or environmental factors.
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