other warming meth-
ods. But facilities
sometimes warm IV
fluids in warming cab-
inets designed specifi-
cally for cotton blan-
kets, a big no-no as
the high temperatures
have led to patients
being burned.
"With fluid, the risk
is that it's too hot or
too cold," says Paul
Austin, CRNA, PhD, a
professor of nurse
anesthesia at Texas
Wesleyan University in
Fort Worth. "You don't
want to burn the
patient, but on the
other hand, you want
the warmed fluid to be
as efficacious as possible."
To prevent fluid-related harm, use a warming device with an inte-
grated temperature monitoring system, which ensures the fluid is
warmed to the recommended temperature, says Dr. Austin.
• Inadequate temperature monitoring. While patient warming
devices are specifically designed to maintain normothermia in surgical
patients who can't thermoregulate their body temperature due to anes-
thesia, both hypothermia and hyperthermia can occur — especially
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 3
• CONSTANT MONITORING Non-invasive methods for measuring a patient's core
body temperature throughout the perioperative period help to ensure normothermia
is safely maintained.
