TYK371
You have just transferred a 1 week-old, 2.5 kg intubated male from the NICU to the main operating room suite for repair of tracheoesophageal fistula. What is best intervention to prevent excessive heat loss as the child is being prepared for surgery?
a) Administer heated IV fluids
b) Use low-flow anesthesia and a heat-exchange device in line with the breathing circuit
c) Increase ambient room temperature
d) Place a convective warming blanket under the patient
Answer
Answer c. Intraoperatively, the redistribution of blood from the core to the periphery and the dysregulation of the interthreshold range cause a significant decrease in body temperature. The most efficient means (of the available choices) of preventing or limiting this decrease is by increasing the ambient temperature, thereby decreasing radiant and convective heat loss.
Notes
- This question originally printed in the Pediatric Anesthesiology Review Topics kindle book series, and appears courtesy of Naerthwyn Press, LLC.