Perioperative complications of hypothermia

Perioperative hypothermia is a common and serious complication of anesthesia and surgery and is associated with many adverse perioperative outcomes. It prolongs the duration of action of inhaled and intravenous anesthetics as well as the duration of action of neuromuscular drugs. Mild core hypotherm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Best practice & research. Clinical anaesthesiology 2008-12, Vol.22 (4), p.645-657
Main Authors: Reynolds, Luke, Beckmann, James, Kurz, Andrea, MD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anaesthesia
Anesthesia & Perioperative Care
Anesthesia, General - adverse effects
Animals
Body Temperature Regulation - physiology
complication
Humans
hypothermia
Hypothermia - etiology
Hypothermia - physiopathology
Hypothermia - prevention & control
perioperative
Perioperative Care - economics
Perioperative Care - methods
Postoperative Complications - etiology
Postoperative Complications - physiopathology
Postoperative Complications - prevention & control
Shivering - physiology
Surgical Procedures, Operative - adverse effects
temperature
thermoregulation
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Summary:Perioperative hypothermia is a common and serious complication of anesthesia and surgery and is associated with many adverse perioperative outcomes. It prolongs the duration of action of inhaled and intravenous anesthetics as well as the duration of action of neuromuscular drugs. Mild core hypothermia increases thermal discomfort, and is associated with delayed post anaesthetic recovery. Mild hypothermia significantly increases perioperative blood loss and augments allogeneic transfusion requirement. Only 1.9 °C core hypothermia triples the incidence of surgical wound infection following colon resection and increases the duration of hospitalization by 20%. Hypothermia adversely affects antibody- and cell-mediated immune defences, as well as the oxygen availability in the peripheral wound tissues. Furthermore mild hypothermia triples the incidence of postoperative adverse myocardial events. Thus, even mild hypothermia contributes significantly to patient care costs and needs to be avoided.
ISSN:1521-6896
1532-169X
DOI:10.1016/j.bpa.2008.07.005