title: The effects of surgery type and duration of tourniquet inflation on body temperature.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify factors related to the decrease in core body temperature after deflation of a pneumatic tourniquet during unilateral knee surgery under general anaesthesia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This observational study recruited 30 patients scheduled for arthroscopic surgery (group A) and  30 patients scheduled for open surgery (group O). Intraoperative oesophageal temperature was measured during tourniquet inflation and every minute for 10 min after deflation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Core temperature decreased significantly after tourniquet deflation in both groups, the decrease being significantly  greater in group A than in group O. Duration of tourniquet inflation and type of surgery were correlated with the temperature decrease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In knee surgery using a tourniquet, the decrease in core body temperature after tourniquet deflation was closely related to the duration of tourniquet  inflation and to arthroscopic rather than open surgery. Further studies are required to determine the effect of surgery type on temperature changes, independently of the duration of tourniquet inflation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Yeouido St Mary Hospital, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chon
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001182:Arthroscopy; D001830:Body Surface Area; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D007717:Knee / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014111:Tourniquets