British journal of urology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Isothermic irrigation during transurethral resection of the prostate: effects on peri-operative hypothermia, blood loss, resection time and patient satisfaction.
To investigate the effect using irrigation fluid at body temperature (isothermic) on patients' (core) temperature during a transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and on the amount of peri-operative blood loss, the resection time and the subjective assessment of comfort by the patients. ⋯ Isothermic irrigation during TURP prevents excessive cooling and reduces the level of hypothermia. The reported increased mortality after TURP is probably related to peri-operative cardiac stress, an important factor which could be caused by the rapid decrease in body temperature which accompanies normal irrigation. Because the heating equipment presently available does not interfere with TURP, there are strong arguments for performing every TURP with irrigation fluid at body temperature.