The effects of rewarming hypothermic postanesthesia patients using Thermadrape covering, heat lamps, and warmed cotton blankets.

The following article includes a brief review of hypothermia and describes contributing factors that cause hypothermia in the operating room as well as the methods used to rewarm patients in the PACU. Thermadrape coverings (OR Concepts, Inc, Roanoke, TX) were studied to determine if they were effective in maintaining body temperature within a normothermic range. Of 55 patients evaluated in the PACU, 18 (32%) who received Thermadrape coverings in the perioperative period remained normothermic. The methods used to rewarm postanesthesia patients included three combinations: Thermadrape and warmed cotton blankets, warmed cotton blankets and heat lamps, and warmed cotton blankets alone.