enough during surgery to maintain normothermia had final intraoper-
ative temperatures 2°C higher than patients who were not warmed.
Hypothermic patients took about 40 minutes longer to meet discharge
criteria, the researchers noted.
3. How common is
intraoperative hypothermia?
A lot more common than you may think. While most warmed patients
are normothermic by the end of surgery, most patients at least initially
experience some intraoperative hypothermia — and it's often pro-
longed. This is because core-to-peripheral redistribution of body heat
precipitously reduces core temperature in the hour after induction of
anesthesia, even in actively warmed patients, says Dr. Sessler. Just as all
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