Preoperative warming and undesired surgical and anesthesia outcomes in pediatric spinal surgery-a retrospective cohort study

Summary Background Underbody forced air warming is a method commonly used for intraoperative temperature maintenance in children. We previously reported that preoperative forced air warming of children undergoing spinal surgery substantially reduces the incidence and duration of intraoperative hypothermia (6 days. Adjusted mean decrease in estimated blood loss for prewarming was 72 (95% CI −29 to 173) ml. Conclusion In this study, prewarming was associated with a reduction in allogeneic packed red blood cell transfusion. However, no causal relationship between prewarming and reduced allogeneic blood transfusion should be assumed. Prewarming was not associated with reductions in estimated blood loss, length of hospitalization, or the incidence of surgical site infection.