Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The effect of administered crystalloid fluid temperature on aural temperature of moderately and severely injured children.
Warm intravenous fluid (W-IVF) administration is the standard of care to prevent hypothermia in injured adults. It is argued that such administration may not be helpful for treating injured children, because children often do not require as much intravenous fluid (i.v.f.) as adults. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of W-i.v.f. to room temperature intravenous fluid (RT-i.v.f.) administration on aural temperature (Ta) in injured children during the first hour of trauma resuscitation. ⋯ When comparing the changes between baseline and final Ta for the W-i.v.f. and RT-i.v.f. groups, the standardized difference in temperature change was 0.62. Although results of the repeated measures analysis of covariance were not statistically significant, the standardized difference in temperature changes was large enough to warrant administration of W-i.v.f., even at slow flow rates, to prevent hypothermia in injured children.