NICE guidance - Hypothermia: prevention and management in adults having surgery (14 December 2016)

Summary

This guideline covers preventing and managing inadvertent hypothermia in people aged 18 and over having surgery. It offers advice on assessing patients’ risk of hypothermia, measuring and monitoring temperature, and devices for keeping patients warm before, during and after surgery.

Content

This guideline includes recommendations on:

• information for patients
• measuring temperature
• warming patients before their operation, including transfer to the operating theatre
• keeping patients warm during their operation, including ambient temperature in the operating theatre and temperature of intravenous fluids
• keeping patients warm after their operation