ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of forced-air prewarming combined with fluid warming on body temperature and thermal comfort in patients undergoing lobectomy.Methods Forty six patients scheduled for video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) of lobectomy were randomized into two groups (n=23 each):warming group (group T) and the control group (group C).Forced-air prewarming combined with infusion heating was applied in the warming group,while only conventional passive warming was used in control group.The tympanic membrane temperatures were recorded before prewarming,after prewarming, during the anesthesia, the end of operation, the moment in and out of the postanesthesia care unit (PACU).Incidence of postoperative shivering, thermal comfort and the time in the PACU were recorded.Results The warming group had a slower temperature decrease at 1,2, 3 hours after operation and end of operation(P< 0.01), warming group had significantly lower incidence of hypothermia and shivering than control group(8.7% vs 56.5%, 4.3% vs 34.8%,P<0.05),and the thermalcomfort score was higher in warming group than in control group(8.52±0.94 vs 7.65±0.83,P<0.05).Conclusions Forced-air prewarming combined with fluid warming has significant clinical effects to stabilize patients` body temperature during operations,to reduce the incidence of hypothermia and shivering and to improve the thermal comfort, which provides a simple and effective temperature protection strategy for patients undergoing lobectomy.