warming is thought to be optimal, even shorter periods of warming can
help stave off hypothermia, researchers found. The review analyzed 14
studies and concluded that prewarming for even just 10 minutes can
significantly reduce the rate of hypothermia.
4. At what temperature should you set blanket and solu-
tion warming cabinets?
There's some debate as to what tempera-
ture you should set blanket and solution warming cabinets.
Researchers recommend warming cotton blankets in cabinets set at
200°F or less to improve thermal comfort without compromising
patient safety.
For the study (osmag.net/mTC6zC), published in the December
2013 Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 20 healthy volunteers each
received 2 blankets — 1 rolled and 1 folded from warming cabinets
set at 130°F or 200°F. Rolled blankets were applied to the neck and
folded blankets to the back. Researchers obtained skin temperatures
and thermal comfort at fixed time intervals. Skin temperatures from
blankets in the 200°F cabinet were greater than those in the 130°F
cabinet, but no skin temperatures reached temperature or duration
thresholds for dermal injury.
ECRI Institute, a suburban Philadelphia medical device testing lab,
recommends that we limit temperature settings on blanket warming
cabinets to 130°F and on solution warming cabinets to 110°F.
Temperature above this level, says ECRI, "unnecessarily increases the
risks of burns while providing no additional clinical benefit."
AORN likewise recommends a limit of 130ºF for blankets. For solu-
tions, AORN recommends we follow the solution manufacturer's spec-
ifications.
In 2014, ECRI recommended a blanket limit of only 110°F because
solutions were usually warmed in the same cabinets as blankets, and
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