toh

Patient Jackie Barr tries out the new warming blanket in the Same Day Admission Unit, overseen by RN Konnie Cliffe (left), Clinical Care Leader Maureen Larock and Quality Improvement Coordinator Brigitte Skinner.

How do you minimize surgical-site infections? By pre-warming patients before surgery rather than during surgery.

“Warm bodies are better equipped to heal and fight infection after surgery,” said Dr. Ian Zunder, the anesthesiologist leading the Patient Warming Work Group in a trial to standardize how and when patients are warmed before longer colorectal and ortho-spinal surgeries at the Civic Campus. “Anesthetized patients can’t regulate their body temperature.”

Research shows that core body temperature drops rapidly once a patient receives an anesthetic, increasing the risk for hypothermia, leading to higher mortality rates, longer hospital stays and more wound infections. Patients who are pre-warmed, before the anesthetic, take less time to regain normal body temperature compared to patients who are warmed after the anesthetic is given.

As part of the trial, Quality Improvement Coordinator Brigitte Skinner recently followed a patient’s journey from admission to recovery, to see the effects of the 3M Bair Hugger – a latex-free inflatable blanket that’s connected to a portable machine that forces in warm air.

“I wanted to see the blankets in action and hear from the patient how it felt,” said Skinner. “The patient told me she felt warm, comforted and assured, unlike her last surgical experience earlier in 2013 at TOH.”

What’s next?

• Pre-warming will be extended to even more surgery patients.
• New ways to measure post-operative body temperature are being explored.
• All operating room beds at all campuses will soon use heated mattresses.

These improvements have come about because frontline staff members were asked – using the CUSP (Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program) structure – what could be done to prevent surgical-site infections.

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