Postoperative complications related to intraoperative hypothermia

Abstract

Introduction: Hypothermia is a common event in the intraoperative period, it triggers consequences in the recovery of the patient, with complications in several systems of the organism, such as cardiac, respiratory, integumentary, digestive, immunological and also the coagulation system. Objective: To analyze the complications presented by the patient in the postoperative period related to intraoperative hypothermia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out in a sample composed of 54 patients' files, from a previous experimental study, in which they were submitted or not to warmed intraoperative intravenous infusion and anesthetic recovery. The variables were analyzed at 4 different times, upon arrival at the hospitalization unit, after 17, 32 and 108 hours postoperative. The model used was the marginal logistics. Results: The majority of patients 40 (74.07%) were female, mean age of 47.06 years, 42 (77.78%) were normothermic patients from the Post Anesthesia Recovery Room, with a mean temperature of 36.2°C. Regarding the comparison between variables and groups of normothermic and hypothermic patients, over time, the variables that presented statistical significance were the time of hospitalization, pain, nausea, evacuation and surgical wound with presence of secretion, with a p-value less than 0.05. Conclusion: In view of the complications found in this study, it is necessary to develop preventive and control actions for intraoperative hypothermia aiming at a better recovery of the patient in the postoperative period.