Duration of Hypothermia is Associated with Postoperative Complications in Patients Undergoing Gynecological Surgery: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between hypothermia duration and postoperative complications in patients undergoing gynecological surgery.

Methods: Patients who underwent elective gynecological surgery at our hospital were consecutively enrolled between October 2020 and January 2022. Core temperature was continuously monitored intraoperatively, and early postoperative complications were collected. By adjusting the logistic regression model for potential confounding factors, the association of postoperative complications with the duration of hypothermia, the lowest body temperature below 36°‍C, and the hypothermia upon admission to postanesthesia care unit (PACU) or intensive care unit (ICU) were analyzed. Additionally, the potential inflection point in the relationship between the duration of hypothermia and the risk of postoperative complications was explored by using cumulative probability scatter plots and moving average sequences.

Results: The study included 370 patients, with 193 (52.2%) experiencing hypothermia and 177 (47.8%) not. Among them, 92 (24.9%) developed complications. The duration of hypothermia (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for each one-minute increase: 1.003; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.000-1.006, P=0.047) and hypothermia upon admission to PACU or ICU (adjusted OR: 1.980; 95% CI: 1.135-3.454, P=0.016) were associated with early postoperative complications. Notably, the cumulative incidence of postoperative complications tended to rise as the duration of hypothermia increased, with a potential inflection point observed at 120 minutes.

Conclusions: In gynecological surgery, the duration of hypothermia as well as hypothermia upon admission to PACU or ICU are associated with postoperative complications. Minimizing the duration of hypothermia may be clinically beneficial.