• Nc Anaegbu, Oj Olatosi, and Ku Tobi.
• J West Afr Coll Surg. 2013 Jul 1;3(3):16-32.

BackgroundHeat Moisture Exchangers (HMEs) conserve heat and moisture during expiration and make this available to inspired gases during subsequent inspiration. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of HMEs in the prevention of perioperative hypothermia in patients scheduled for abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia relaxant technique with endotrachael intubation (GART.)SettingLagos University Teaching Hospital, in Modular theatre, Anaesthesia unit.Study DesignThe study was a randomized, controlled, longitudinal, interventional study Methods: 100 ASA I, II and III patients aged 18 to 65 years scheduled for abdominal surgery under GART were randomly assigned to 2 groups, groups H and C. Group H had HMEs, while group C served as controls. Core temperature measured using tympanic probe was every 10 minutes till end of anaesthesia Data from total 99 patients, 49 in group H and 50 in group C were eventually analysed. Although patients in both groups developed hypothermia in the course of anaesthesia, core temperature was significantly lower p< 0.05 after one hour in the control group than the intervention group.ConclusionThe use of HMEs during general anaesthesia with endotrachael intubation did not prevent hypothermia but resulted in higher core temperature and should be part of a multimodal approach in the prevention of perioperative hypothermia.KeywordsHeat Moisture Exchangers, General endotracheal anaesthesia, Hypothermia, abdominal surgery.

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