Heated wire humidification circuit attenuates the decrease of core temperature during general anesthesia in patients undergoing arthroscopic hip surgery

• Main Authors: Sooyong Park, Seok-Hwa Yoon, Ann Misun Youn, Seung Hyun Song, Ja Gyung Hwang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Society of Anesthesiologists 2017-12-01
• Series: Korean Journal of Anesthesiology
• Subjects: arthroscopy; body temperature; general anesthesia; hypothermia
• Online Access: http://ekja.org/upload/pdf/kjae-70-619.pdf
• ISSN: 2005-6419; 2005-7563

BackgroundIntraoperative hypothermia is common in patients undergoing general anesthesia during arthroscopic hip surgery. In the present study, we assessed the effect of heating and humidifying the airway with a heated wire humidification circuit (HHC) to attenuate the decrease of core temperature and prevent hypothermia in patients undergoing arthroscopic hip surgery under general anesthesia.MethodsFifty-six patients scheduled for arthroscopic hip surgery were randomly assigned to either a control group using a breathing circuit connected with a heat and moisture exchanger (HME) (n = 28) or an HHC group using a heated wire humidification circuit (n = 28). The decrease in core temperature was measured from anesthetic induction and every 15 minutes thereafter using an esophageal stethoscope.ResultsDecrease in core temperature from anesthetic induction to 120 minutes after induction was lower in the HHC group (–0.60 ± 0.27℃) compared to the control group (–0.86 ± 0.29℃) (P = 0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia or the incidence of shivering in the postanesthetic care unit.ConclusionsThe use of HHC may be considered as a method to attenuate intraoperative decrease in core temperature during arthroscopic hip surgery performed under general anesthesia and exceeding 2 hours in duration.