Preoperative Forced-Air Warming Strategy: Is It Effective in Averting Intraoperative Hypothermia in Elderly Trauma Surgical Patients?

Background and objectives Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia is expected in the elderly during central neuraxial anesthesia. We aimed to compare the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia (< 36-degree celsius) between preoperative forced-air warming for 30 minutes and non-warming groups. Also, we compared the time to develop hypothermia, perioperative shivering, duration of intraoperative active warming, metabolic acidosis, surgical site infections, coagulation derangements, and post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) stay. Material and methodology A total of 100 American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I-III (Age > 60 years) patients scheduled to undergo femur fracture surgeries under central neuraxial anesthesia were enrolled in this single-blinded prospective randomized study. They were randomly allocated into Group A (active forced-air warming for 30 minutes in the preoperative period) and Group B (without forced-air warming). Then, patients were transferred to the operation theatre, where central neuraxial anesthesia was administered for surgery. An infrared tympanic membrane thermometer measured the core body temperature during the different study points. Results The intraoperative hypothermia incidences were 26.0% and 68.0% in groups A and B, respectively. The mean time for developing hypothermia was found to be 143.08 ± 26.26 min and 25.88 ± 9.25 min in groups A and B, respectively. The mean duration of intraoperative active warming was observed to be 15.6 minutes and 103.6 minutes in groups A and B, respectively. The shivering and surgical site infection (SSI) grades were lower in group A. Conclusion A preoperative forced-air warming strategy for 30 minutes helps in reducing the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia and shivering in elderly patients undergoing femur fracture surgeries under central neuraxial anesthesia.