Perioperative hypothermia in pediatric patients: diagnosis, prevention and management

ABSTRACT

Hpothermia is the most common perioperative disturbance in pediatric patients. Pediatric patients are highly vulnerable to hypothermia and its associated complications, e.g. respiratory embarrassment, metabolic acidosis, hypoglycemia, hypoxemia, cardiac disturbances, coagulopathy, and a higher incidence of wound infection etc. This higher vulnerability is mainly due to increased heat loss from larger head size, thin skin, lack of subcutaneous pad of fat and limited ability of compensatory thermogenesis from brown fat. As such it is mandatory to design appropriate diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic strategies which can effectively protect pediatric population from the potential catastrophic complications associated with hypothermia during perioperative period. The current review aims to refresh the basic mechanism of hypothermia and discussion of evidence based management strategies to minimize the incidence of hypothermia in pediatric patients