Aims:

Postoperative hypothermia (POH) is a common but preventable adverse event. Our aim was to determine the incidence of POH and its effect on postoperative analgesic use in patients who underwent surgery in our hospital.

Methods:

The files and anesthesia follow-up forms of 629 patients operated under general, neuraxial (spinal, epidural anesthesia), or regional anesthesia (peripheral nerve blocks) between March 2017 and May 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. Demographic data, anesthesia methods, surgical duration, post-anesthesia care unit recovery times, incidence of postoperative hypothermia, and postoperative analgesic use were evaluated.

Results:

The incidence of POH was 22.1%. POH occurred most often following thoracic surgery (26.3%) and least often following urology operations (13.6%), (p=0.54). Regarding type of anesthesia, POH occurred most frequently with regional anesthesia (peripheral nerve blocks) (32.2%), and least frequently with neuraxial anesthesia (spinal, epidural anesthesia), (14.9%), (p=0.01). However, the rate of analgesic use was lower in patients with POH in the postanesthesia care unit, although not statistically significant (p=0.14).

Conclusion:

POH is a frequently encountered problem in anesthesia practice, and the need for analgesia appears to be less in patients with POH in the post-anesthesia care unit.

Keywords: Hypothermia, postoperative period, analgesics, anesthesia recovery period