Warming therapy for spinal surgery patients

Abstract

This study has tested an infrared radiation surgical gown (IRSG) and a carbon nanofiber thermal pad (CNTP) to verify the potential of these new warming therapies for the prevention of hypothermia in spinal surgery patients. The study is a quasi-experimental study using the non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The study period was from July 14 to November 30, 2014, and subjects were an IRSG group of 28 patients, a CNTP group of 30 patients and a control group of 28 patients who were admitted to E university hospital in D city to have spinal surgery. The collected data were analyzed using PASW Statistics 20.0. χ²-test and ANOVA were used to test homogeneity among the three groups, and ANCOVA was used to measure temperature changes and subjective thermal discomfort in order to verify the effectiveness of the experimental treatments. As a result, from 75 minutes after tube insert (F = 8.142, p =.001) to the time of its removal (F = 36.825, p