title: Preprocedure warming maintains normothermia throughout the perioperative period: a quality improvement project.
abstract: Research supports the practice of preprocedure warming as a method to prevent the development of unplanned perioperative hypothermia. ASPAN defines hypothermia as a core temperature lower than 36°C. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to explore the idea that preprocedure warming maintains perioperative normothermia. Information was obtained through retrospective chart reviews (n = 148). Temperatures were compared for patients who received standard preprocedure care versus patients who were warmed with a warming gown for one hour preprocedure. Before the institution of warming, about 50% of the patients received in the PACU were hypothermic. After the warming was instituted, only 12% of patients were received in a hypothermic state in the PACU. Concepts discussed in this paper include preprocedure warming, postprocedure hypothermia, and complications associated with hypothermia.
authors.affiliation: St Mary Medical Center, ASU, 1201 Newtown-Langhorne Rd, Langhorne, PA 19047, USA. kjhooven@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hooven
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced; D019990:Perioperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017749:Total Quality Management