Perioperative Hypothermia in Children

Marcus Nemeth, Clemens Miller and Anselm Bräuer
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Marcus Nemeth: Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Centre Goettingen, 37075 Goettingen, Germany
Clemens Miller: Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Centre Goettingen, 37075 Goettingen, Germany
Anselm Bräuer: Department of Anaesthesiology, University Medical Centre Goettingen, 37075 Goettingen, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-18

Abstract: Background: First described by paediatric anaesthesiologists, perioperative hypothermia is one of the earliest reported side effects of general anaesthesia. Deviations from normothermia are associated with numerous complications and adverse outcomes, with infants and small children at the highest risk. Nowadays, maintenance of normothermia is an important quality metric in paediatric anaesthesia. Methods: This review is based on our collection of publications regarding perioperative hypothermia and was supplemented with pertinent publications from a MEDLINE literature search. Results: We provide an overview on perioperative hypothermia in the paediatric patient, including definition, history, incidence, development, monitoring, risk factors, and adverse events, and provide management recommendations for its prevention. We also summarize the side effects and complications of perioperative temperature management. Conclusions: Perioperative hypothermia is still common in paediatric patients and may be attributed to their vulnerable physiology, but also may result from insufficient perioperative warming. An effective perioperative warming strategy incorporates the maintenance of normothermia during transportation, active warming before induction of anaesthesia, active warming during anaesthesia and surgery, and accurate measurement of core temperature. Perioperative temperature management must also prevent hyperthermia in children.

Keywords: perioperative; hypothermia; children; newborn; infant; paediatric; anaesthesiology; warming strategy; risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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