Combination of warming blanket and prewarmed intravenous infusion is effective for rewarming in infants with postoperative hypothermia in China

Background: Postoperative hypothermia in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) in neonates and infants is a well-known serious complication as it can increase the risk of blood loss, wound infections, and cardiac arrhythmias.

Aim: To identify an effective rewarming method for neonates and infants in China with postoperative hypothermia, an open-label, randomized, and controlled study was performed to compare the effects of three different rewarming methods.

Methods: Neonates and infants (<1 year) admitted to the PACU after surgery between June 2011 and November 2012 in a local hospital were investigated. Patients diagnosed with hypothermia were randomly divided into three groups and rewarmed with only blanket (blanket group), blanket plus electric blanket (heating blanket group), and blanket plus prewarmed intravenous (i.v.) infusion (warmed infusion group). From the beginning of rewarming, the rectal temperature was recorded every 10 min up to 180 min.

Results: The incidence of postoperative hypothermia in neonates and infants was 5.9%. Patients rewarmed with warming blanket plus prewarmed i.v. infusions showed the shortest rewarming time (67.0 ± 2.6 min, P = 0.02) and highest rewarming efficiency (0.027 ± 0.0008°C·min(-1) , P = 0.039).

Conclusions: The combination of conventional blanket rewarming and prewarmed i.v. infusion was shown to be an effective rewarming method for hypothermic infants in China.