Prewarming Operating Rooms for Prevention of Intraoperative Hypothermia During Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasties

Prewarming operating rooms has been shown to limit hypothermia in pediatric surgical patients but may be associated with extreme discomfort for surgeons. We examined the effect of prewarming operating rooms on core temperatures during knee and hip arthroplasties. Sixty-six patients were randomized to the prewarmed group at 24 degrees C or control group at 17 degrees C. The prewarmed group core temperature (mean, 36.14 degrees C) before active warming was significantly higher (P = .018) than that of the control group (mean, 35.83 degrees C). By the start of surgery, the difference was 36.01 degrees C prewarmed vs 35.83 degrees C control, P = .038. There was no significant difference in the last recorded mean temperatures between groups: 36.35 degrees C (prewarmed) vs 36.16 degrees C (control). A prewarmed operating room for adults undergoing knee or hip arthroplasty had minimal effect on preventing intraoperative hypothermia.