Comparison of Body Temperature, Normothermia, and Extubation Times of Patients Heated with Forced Air Warming Method Based on Whether Patients Underwent On-Pump or Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft

AIM: This study aimed to compare the body temperature, normothermia, and extubation times of patients heated with forced air warming method based on whether they underwent on-pump or off-pump coronary artery bypass graft. METHOD: This quasi-experimental study comprised 109 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft operation in the cardiovascular surgery department of a university hospital and a private hospital in Afyonkarahisar. Patients were divided into the following two groups: group 1 comprised 65 patients who underwent on-pump coronary artery bypass graft and group 2 comprised 44 patients who underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass graft. All patients included in the study were heated with forced air warming method. Preoperative and postoperative data were collected using the Patient Identification Form and the Patient Tracking Form, consisting of 16 items in total. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 18.0 software. RESULTS: Even though the preoperative body temperature, postoperative first body temperature, second hour body temperature, and extubation time did not exhibit a significant difference depending on the operating method, a significant difference was observed regarding the first, third, fourth, and fifth hour body temperatures and time to reach normothermia based on the operating method (p<0.05). Notably, the off-pump group’s body temperatures in the first, third, fourth, and fifth hours were higher compared with the on-pump group. Furthermore, the off-pump group reached normothermia (145.22±72.54 minutes) earlier or faster compared with the on-pump group (206.84±89.30 minutes). The body temperatures, extubation times, and normothermia were not observed to exhibit significant differences based on the gender (p>0.05). A statistically significant relation was not observed between the patient’s body temperature and their age (p>0.05). However, a low but positive and significant (p<0.05) correlation was observed between the extubation times (r=0.197) and age, as well as time to reach normothermia (r=0.237) and age. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that forced air warming method is an effective technique to minimize the time to regain normothermia among patients who underwent the on- and off-pump coronary artery bypass graft.