Postoperative rewarming: are there alternatives to warm hospital blankets.

Mild postoperative hypothermia remains a frequent complication among surgical patients during the immediate postoperative period. Current literature describes a variety of rewarming methods directed toward the treatment of this problem. In 1998, ASPAN developed a Clinical Guideline for the Prevention of Unplanned Perioperative Hypothermia. Eleven studies comparing different methods of postoperative rewarming have been published since the release of that guideline. This article introduces a systematic review of these studies to identify the most effective methods of rewarming surgical patients postoperatively.