FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 334:1263-1264 May 9, 1996 Number 19 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

	Full Text Purchase this article Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

Mild perioperative hypothermia is common during major abdominal surgery. Its usual causes are anesthetic-induced impairment of thermoregulation, exposure to cold, and altered distribution of body heat. Measures to reduce heat loss include covering the skin, warming intravenous fluid and transfused blood, and increasing the ambient temperature. Few patients are actively warmed during surgery, however.¹ Hypothermia may have both beneficial and adverse effects on patients. By reducing the consumption of oxygen, it may protect tissue from ischemia, an effect that is exploited during circulatory arrest in cardiac surgery.^2,3 The adverse effects include cardiac arrhythmias, reduced cardiac output, and shifts in the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Cheney, F. W. (1997). Should Normothermia Be Maintained During Major Surgery?. JAMA 277: 1165-1166 [Abstract]