title: Is there risk of emboli during infusion with line type blood-liquid warmers?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Line type blood-liquid warmers are used widely due to their low expense, practical use and nondependence on sets. We aimed to investigate the relationship of bubbles in line type warmers with two different warming properties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two groups were designed with S-line and Astoflo® brand blood-liquid warmers. By using 10 medisets for each group (n = 20), we infused 1,000 mL 0.9% NaCl solutions at 350 mL.hour-1 speed for one hour in the operating room. Temperatures at the proximal, midway and distal parts of lines, temperature of experiment environment, temperature of liquid used and temperature of liquid reaching the cannula after warming were measured. Time to visually observable bubble formation was recorded. We compared findings statistically using the Mann-Whitney U test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences between the groups with respect to temperatures at the proximal, midway and distal parts of lines, temperature of experiment environment, temperature of liquid used and temperature of liquid reaching the cannula (p > 0.05). Bubbles were observed with both warmers and time to bubble formation was similar in the two study groups (p = 0.143).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the experimental setting, we have designed conditions similar to our clinical environment. Both types of warmers provided similar warming levels and formed visible bubbles. Considering that low amounts of emboli can be fatal in infants and children, bubble formation should be taken seriously into account for emboli and further studies should be carried out to determine the amount, the reasons and the contents of bubble formation.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anestesiologia e Reanimação, Faculdade de Medicina, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turquia. Electronic address: yuksel.erkin@deu.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Yüksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Erkin
authors.forename: Aydın
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taşdöğen
authors.forename: Edip
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gönüllü
mesh_terms: D004618:Embolism, Air / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013696:Temperature
keywords: COMPLICAÇÕES; Embolia gasosa; Equipamentos e Provisões Hospitalares; HIDRATAÇÃO; Soluções Isotônicas