patients say as they're wheeled in for surgery is,
"It's cold in here!" Keeping them warm and comfort-
able during their care can improve their outcomes
and increase their satisfaction.
Per AORN guidelines, ORs should be kept
between 68ºF and 75ºF. This temperature range
might be uncomfortable for providers who are stand-
ing under warm surgical lights and dressed in surgi-
cal gowns. Therefore, the temperature may some-
times be adjusted below the AORN recommended
range. However, the desired patient's temperature
can be maintained with active warming interven-
tions. The recommendation is to keep the operating
room at 70ºF until active warming is initiated.
The type and duration of the procedure are also
important factors to consider. Procedures lasting
more than an hour increase the risk of hypothermia
because the patient is exposed to the cold operating
room for a longer duration. Also, the more exten-
sive the procedure, the more tissue is exposed to
the environment.
It's not uncommon to raise the ambient tempera-
ture in the OR, especially for pediatric patients. It will
help keep the young patient comfortable and will ulti-
mately help with the patient's outcome and recovery.
O
C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 5 1
Innovative Patient Warming Pre to Post Op
LEARN MORE:
www.welmed.us/thermaldrape.php | 847-337-1750 | thermal@welmed.us
Welmed's Approach to Patient Warming...
1. Maintain the patient's natural body heat and prevent
hypothermia by minimizing heat lost from exposed skin surfaces.
2. Adding direct heat to the body core thermoregulation will
prevent vasoconstriction and keep normothermia during
intraoperative procedures.
As illustrated, Welmed's
Thermal and Warming
Products are designed
to retain heat and warm
patients, assisting in
the maintenance of
normothermia
Active
Warming |
Thermal Drapes
& Blankets
Patient without
Normothermia
Intervention
Patient with
Welmed's
Thermal and
Warming
Intervention
Passively Retain Heat |
Thermal Bouffant Cap
Passively Retain Heat |
Thermal Booties
Pre-Op In OR Post-Op
Thermal Bouffant Caps YES YES YES
Thermal Booties YES YES YES
Pre & Post Op Thermal |
Warming Blankets
YES N/A YES
Surgical Warming Drapes N/A YES N/A
UNDER COVERS Adding one layer of insulation with a passive warming can reduce heat
loss by about 30%.
Inform before you warm
When patients arrive for surgery, especially in
warm climates or the summer months, they might
report that they're comfortable and often may not
want to be actively warmed. Many patients
decline warming as they may not realize how crit-
ical it is to maintain their core body temperature.
Staff should therefore be educated on the impor-
tance of prewarming, so that they can in turn
educate patients on its many safety and satisfying
benefits.
OSM
Ms. Akinyemi (toyina@verizon.net) is a perioper-
ative clinical nurse educator at the Inova Fairfax
Medical Campus in Falls Church, Va.
References for this article can be found
at outpatientsurgery.net/forms.
On the Web
