Effect of nurse-initiated forced-air warming blanket on the reduction of hypothermia complications following coronary artery bypass grafting: a randomized clinical trial

Aims To evaluate the effect of postoperative forced-air warming (FAVV) on the incidence of excessive bleeding (ExB), arrhythmia, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and blood product transfusion in hypothermic patients following on-pump CABG and compare temperatures associated with the use of FAW and warming with a sheet and wool blanket. Methods and results A randomized clinical trial conducted with 200 patients undergoing isolated on-pump CABG from January to November 2018. Patients were randomly assigned into an Intervention Group (IG, FAW, n = 100) and Control Group (CG, sheet and blanket, n = 100). The tympanic temperature of all patients was measured over a 24-h period. ExB was the primary outcome, while arrhythmia, AMI, and blood product transfusion were secondary outcomes. The effect of the interventions on the outcomes was investigated through using bivariate logistic regression, with a level of significance of 5%. The IG was 79% less likely to experience bleeding than the CG [odds ratio (OR) = 0.21, confidence interval (CI) 95% 0.12-0.39, P < 0.001]; the occurrence of AMI in the IG was 94% lower than that experienced by the CG (OR = 0.06, CI 95% 0.01-0.48, P < 0.001); and the IG was also 77% less likely to experience arrhythmia than the CG (OR = 0.23, CI 95% 0.12-0.47, P < 0.001); no difference was found between groups in terms of blood product transfusion (P < 0.279). Conclusions These findings show that FAW can be used following CABG until patients reach normothermia to avoid undesirable clinical outcomes.