Hyperthermia resulting from tourniquet application in children

An association between the use of tourniquets for limb surgery and a progressive increase in body temperature was noticed in paediatric patients in our institution. Because malignant hyperthermia is always a concern in these patients, it was decided to investigate this phenomenon. The anaesthetic records of 70 paediatric patients were studied and divided into three groups. Group I (32 patients) had unilateral lower limb procedures and Group II (24 patients) had bilateral lower limb procedures. Group III, the control group, consisted of 14 patients who had undergone superficial body procedures. The data were analysed by oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA), and comparison between groups was made by unpaired t-tests. The study confirmed our clinical impression of the association.