EFFECTS OF PREINDUCTION AND INTRAOPERATIVE WARMING DURING MAJOR LAPAROTOMY

We have investigated the influence of active warming before and during operation on blood loss, transfusion requirements, du ration of stay in the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) and perioperative costs in 40 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Patients were allocated randomly to one of two groups: in the study group (n = 20), patients w ere actively warmed using forced air for 30 min before induction of ge neral anaesthesia and during anaesthesia. Passive protection against h eat loss consisted of circulating water mattresses, blankets and fluid warming devices, and was used both in the active warming group and in the control group (n = 20). At the end of surgery the change in core temperature was significantly less in the group of actively warmed pat ients (0.5 (SD 0.8)degrees C vs 1.5 (0.8)degrees C; P less than or equ al to 0.01). Blood loss and transfusion requirements were less in the actively warmed patients, who had a shorter duration of stay in the PA CU (94 (SD 42) min vs 217 (169) min; P less than or equal to 0.01) and a 24 % reduction in total anaesthetic costs.