FORCED-AIR WARMING IS NO MORE EFFECTIVE THAN CONVENTIONAL METHODS FORRAISING POSTOPERATIVE CORE TEMPERATURE AFTER CARDIAC-SURGERY

Objective: To determine whether postoperative forced-air warming of ca rdiac bypass patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) results in fast er rate of warming and improved outcomes compared with more convention al ICU warming methods. Design: Prospective randomized effectiveness s tudy. Setting: Three hundred fifty-bed university-affiliate hospital. Participants: Sixty consenting randomized patients from a consecutive series of 84 patients undergoing routine adult cardiac surgery. Interv entions: One group of patients received usual patient care, which incl udes warm blankets and overhead heat lamps. Patients in the other grou p were placed under forced-air warming devices on arrival in the ICU. Sixty consenting patients (30 in each group) were randomly assigned to one or the other method of warming. The remaining 24 patients refused randomization and self-selected a treatment group. Measurements and M ain Results: Results are presented for the randomized groups. Core tem perature, measured by pulmonary artery catheter thermistor, increased in both groups at the rate of 0.25 degrees C: per hour. No statistical ly or clinically significant differences were found between the group for whom the warming device was used and the standard care group in th e incidence of postoperative cardiac arrhythmia, duration of time in t he ICU, or any other clinical variable. Conclusions: There is no evide nce from this study to warrant use of forced-air warming devices for t he care of postoperative cardiac surgical patients in the ICU. Copyrig ht (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company.