Intraoperative thermal regulation in patients undergoing laparoscopic vs open surgical procedures

Background: Although perioperative hypothermia is a well-known consequence of general anesthesia, it has been hypothesized that laparoscopic surgery e xacerbates hypothermia to a greater extent than open surgery. The aim of th is study was to demonstrate that laparoscopic surgery does not represent an increased risk for hypothermia. Methods: A case-controlled retrospective study was conducted on 45 patients , 25 undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy and 20 undergoing parathyroid surgery under endotracheal general anesthesia. Data were collected regardin g age, sex, weight, height, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) sta tus, length of surgery, and anesthesia. In addition, we analyzed the type o f intraoperative intravenous fluids, anesthetics and perioperative drugs, a nd temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate recordings during anesthesia . Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups with re spect to age, sex, body mass index (BMI), ASA status, type or amount of int ravenous fluids infused, length of anesthesia or surgery, changes in mean b lood pressure, or heart rate. Core body temperatures in both groups decreas ed significantly over time (p < 0.001). However, the core body temperature changes at all measurement points and the rate of temperature drop were sim ilar in both laparoscopic and parathyroidectomy groups (p > 0.05). There wa s no difference between the groups in terms of maximum drop in temperature (lowest temperature recorded vs baseline temperature) (1.1 +/- 0.7 vs 1.0 /- 0.7 degreesC, p > 0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that patients who undergo laparoscopic and open procedures of similar duration under endotracheal general anesthes ia have similar profiles in terms of perioperative hypothermia.