Six months of shivering in a district general hospital

Abstract

Of 2595 patients admitted to a recovery room in Derbyshire Royal Infirmary over a 6‐month period, 164 (6.3%) shivered postoperatively. Data regarding the anaesthetic techniques to which these patients had been subjected were gathered from the Derby Anaesthetic Audit System. Subsequent analysis demonstrated the importance of a number of factors that led to shivering, including male gender, anaesthetic techniques involving spontaneous ventilation, and anticholinergic premedication. The administration of pethidine, alfentanil or morphine intra‐operatively reduced the incidence of shivering postoperatively. Copyright © 1992, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved