Heating methods in the prevention of intraoperative hypothermia of elective abdominal surgery

摘要

Objective: To identify heating methods to prevent intraoperative hypothermia in elective abdominal surgery with visceral exposure, in adult patients. Methods: Quantitative, exploratory, descriptive and prospective study performed in a public hospital, in southern Brazil. The sample consisted of 63 patients. It was possible to observe the heating methods used and measure the tympanic temperature. For data processing, it was used descriptive statistics through the SEstatNet software. Results: Active and passive heating methods were used. The infusion of heated fluids for abdominal cavity irrigation was the most used measure (n?o 63; 100%) of the active process, while maintaining the cooling system off until the surgery beginning was the most used measurement (n?o 57; 90.5%) of the passive method. Conclusion: There was no severe hypothermia with the heating methods utilized. However, there are more efficient current methods that could prevent mild and moderate hypothermia found.