title: Core temperatures during major abdominal surgery in patients warmed with new circulating-water garment, forced-air warming, or carbon-fiber resistive-heating system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It has been reported that recently developed circulating-water garments transfer more heat than a forced-air warming system. The authors evaluated the hypothesis that circulating-water leg wraps combined with a water mattress better maintain intraoperative core temperature ≥36°C than either forced-air warming or carbon-fiber resistive heating during major abdominal surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-six patients undergoing open abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to warming with: (1) circulating-water leg wraps combined with a full-length circulating-water mattress set at 42°C, (2) a lower-body forced-air cover set on high (≈43°C), and (3) a carbon-fiber resistive-heating cover set at 42°C. Patients were anesthetized with general anesthesia combined with continuous epidural analgesia. The primary outcome was intraoperative tympanic-membrane temperature ≥36°C.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 2 h after anesthesia induction, core temperature decreased 1.0 ± 0.5°C in the forced-air group, 0.9 ± 0.2°C in the carbon-fiber group, and 0.4 ± 0.4°C in the circulating-water leg wraps and mattress group (P < 0.05 vs. forced-air and carbon-fiber heating). At the end of surgery, core temperature was 0.2 ± 0.7°C above preoperative values in the circulating-water group but remained 0.6 ± 0.9°C less in the forced-air and 0.6 ± 0.4°C less in the carbon-fiber groups (P < 0.05 vs. carbon fiber).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combination of circulating-water leg wraps and a mattress better maintain intraoperative core temperature than did forced-air and carbon-fiber warming systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Chiharu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Negishi
authors.forename: Fumitoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozaki
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery*; D000388:Air; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural / Q000379:methods; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods; D001513:Beds; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D002244:Carbon; D000077482:Carbon Fiber; D003020:Clothing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D000077482:Carbon Fiber; D014867:Water; D002244:Carbon