ative warming produces a number of measureable benefits, too. A
study of 141 patients undergoing colorectal surgery shows that
patients who were warmed pre-operatively had a decreased incidence
of surgical site infections and spent less time in the hospital. The
study, which was published in the journal Anesthesiology, also indi-
cates that pre-operative warming is more effective than intra-opera-
tive warming in terms of achieving normothermia in PACU.
James H. Philip, ME(E), MD, CCE, might respectfully disagree pre-
warming is necessary. Dr. Philip, the director of clinical bioengineer-
ing in the department of anesthesiology at Brigham and Women's
Hospital in Boston, Mass., sees tremendous value in keeping patients
normothermic, but he says intra-operative warming does the trick just
fine.
"Patients almost always leave here normothermic," he says, even if
the OR has a low ambient temperature. "If they're not, I usually ask
that they check twice to make sure the reading is accurate."
He brings up a recent case — a robot-assisted laparoscopic
M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 5
under the microscope for a completely different reason: the cost
of disposables. Even though the cost of a warming blanket was
considered quite manageable, given the benefits, her staff found
a way to save a few dollars anyway — $7,500 per year, to be pre-
cise.
"We looked at a different vendor and negotiated with them that
if we buy X amount of blankets we would get the blowers for
free," says Ms. Alexander, the director of nursing for Reading
(Pa.) Hospital SurgiCenter at Spring Ridge. "We were buying the
same volume and had the same end result, only at a lower price."
— Bill Donahue
