• Jun Shen, Qin Wang, YuXia Zhang, Xuan Wang, and Peng Shi.
• Infectious Disease Department, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2015 Nov 1; 25 (11): 1139-43.

BackgroundPostoperative 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.AimTo 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.MethodsNeonates 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.ResultsThe 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).ConclusionsThe combination of conventional blanket rewarming and prewarmed i.v. infusion was shown to be an effective rewarming method for hypothermic infants in China.© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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