When you’re not under anaesthesia, your body has an incredible ability to keep your core body temperature within 0.2 degrees of 37°C! 🌞 It does this through clever means such as making you put a jumper on, or move to a cooler area, or shivering, or sweating. This is called thermoregulation. ❄️💦
When you’re under anaesthesia, your thermoregulation is rendered far less effective. 😴 It’s so ineffective that your temperature can drop to 34.5°C within 30 minutes of induction! ⏳
You should use temperature monitoring:
- If the surgery will take more than 1 hour ⏰
- If you are using an active warming device (ANZCA) 🔥
What is the problem with low core body temperature? ❓
The enzymatic processes that occur in the cells are all calibrated for a normal body temperature. 🧬 Everything from cardiac conduction to blood clotting is temperature-dependent, so for a safe anaesthetic we need to keep the core body temperature as close as possible to 37°C. ❤️💉
How do we do this? 🛠️
The first step is to monitor the core body temperature. We can do this via several means:
- Tympanic membrane or forehead (Intermittent) 👂👤
- Temperature probe in the nasopharynx or oesophagus (continuous, effective and safe) 📉
- Invasive monitoring via pulmonary artery catheter (most accurate, rarely used) 🫁
- Bladder (requires a specific type of urinary catheter) 🚽
Now that we know the core body temperature, we can guide our chosen warming plan:
- Warm blankets (cheap, easy, ineffective) 🛏️
- Warm environment (moderately effective, impacts the rest of the team) 🌡️
- Forced air warmer (effective in most surgical positions) 💨
- Contact body warmers (effective in most surgical positions) 🔥
- Intravenous fluid warmer (most effective, most expensive) 💉💰
Check out our Live Series Monitoring Masterclass for more information! 🎥📚
Build knowledge ✅
Improve safety ✅
Ref: Bindu B, Bindra A, Rath G. Temperature management under general anesthesia: Compulsion or option. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2017 Jul-Sep;33(3):306-316. doi: 10.4103/joacp.JOACP_334_16. PMID: 29109627; PMCID: PMC5672515.
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
Unlock Exclusive Free Content
Join the mailing list. We give too much great content away for free, see what all the fuss is about.
Categories
All Categories abg acid base acidosis acorn adrenaline adrenaline dosing adrenaline in anaphylaxis advanced advancedhaemostats adverse reaction aed agents ahpra ahpra audit airway airway adjuncts airway assessment airway emergency airway filter airway management airway mass airway rescue airway trauma airwaylifeline airwayoptimisation algorithm allergy allergy testing als als aftercare alsmedications amiodarone anaesthesia anaesthetic anaesthetic machine anaesthetics analgesia anaphylactoid anaphylaxis anaphylaxis aftercare anaphylaxis diagnosis anaphylaxis differential diagnosis anaphylaxis management anaphylaxis triggers anatomy antibiotics antiemetic anzaag anzcor apnoea arrest arterial blood gas arterial line arterial line complications arterial line errors arterial lines arterialcannulation arteriallines asa article asl aspiration aspiration risk assessing pain assessment atypical anaphylaxis awareness bag mask ventilation behaviours of concern beta blockers biphasic anaphylaxis bis bispectral index blade bleed bleeding bleeding airway block blocks blood blood glucose blood pressure blood pressure monitoring blood products blood safety bluey boundaries breathing circuit bronchoscopy bronchospasm burns calcium cannula technique cannulation capnography cardiac arrest cardiac collapse cardiac output cardiac surgery cardiovascular causesofcardiacarrest cell saver central venous catheter centralvenouscatheter cerebral oximetry checklist checklists chlorhexidine cico circadian cycle circuit classification climate climate change clinicaldecisionmaking clinicalpractice closed loop communication co2 coagulation coagulopathy cognitive aid colonoscopy communication complications compression rates compressions contaminant coolinginmh core body temperature cpd cpr cricoid pressure cricothyrotomy crisis crisis resource management critical incident criticalbleeding cross matching cura cvc cvc complications dantrolene debriefing decisions defibrillation dental surgery depth of anaesthesia diabetes diagnostics differential diagnosis difficult airway documentation drug errors drug safety drugs ecg education educator emergence delirium emergency emergency management emotional intelligence end tidal carbon dioxide endoscopy endotracheal tubes ent entropy environment epidural anaesthesia equipment ercp error ett exchange catheter exercise fasting feedback ffp fluid balance fluid resuscitation fluid therapy fona formal diagnosis fracture fixation principles fracture patterns frailty ga gas gas analysis gastroscopy general anaesthetic gloves glp-1 ra glp-1 receptor agonists glp-1ras haemodynamic haemoglobin haemorrhage haemostasis haemostatic haemostaticagents haemostats handle handover hazard health heart rate hemodynamics hereditarydisorder high flow high risk hot debrief human factors hypnosis hypoglycaemia hypotension hypothermia hypoxia icu immune response incomplete reversal induction infection infection control inotrope inotropes intravenous intravenous cannulation intubation invasive blood pressure monitoring invasive device invasivebloodpressuremonitoring iv induction ketamine laryngeal mask laryngectomy laryngoscope laryngospasm last leadership learning lifelines lma local anaesthetic long term venous access major surgery malignanthyperthermia mallampati mask ventilation massive transfusion massive transfusion protocol mast cells mean arterial pressure medications mh mhtesting mls monitoring movement muscle relaxants neck surgery nep nerve blocks nerve monitoring neuraxial neuromuscular blockade neuromuscular junction neurosurgerynursing neurovascularcare neurovascularsurgery nmt non-invasive blood pressure non-shockable rhythms nurse burnout nurse education nurse wellbeing nurselife nursing nursingeducation nutrition obstetric obstetrics anaesthesia obstruction operatingroom operatingroomnurse operatingroomnursing opioid opioids orthopaedic biology orthopaedic nursing ot oxygen oxygenation ozempic pacu paediatric paediatric anaesthesia paediatric t piece paediatrics pain pain management partnership passive patient safety patientbloodmanagement patientsafety perianaesthesia nurse educator perioperative perioperative orthopaedics perioperativeeducation perioperativenurse perioperativenursing physiology pipeline platelets ponv positioning post op bleed post operative pregnancy preoperative preoperative care preoxygenation preparedness primary survey professional development protocol psychological safety publications pulmonary radiation rapid sequence induction recognition recovery recovery issues recovery room emeregencies refractory anaphyalxis refractory hypotension regionalanaesthesia renal resilience resources respiratory resuscitation reversal rotem safe apnoea time safety scalpel scalpel technique scoutnurse scrub scout nursing scrubnurse scrubscoutconcepts sedation seldinger shared airway shock shockable rhythms signs of anaphylaxis simulation skin prick testing sleep spinal spinal anaesthetic sterile procedures stress reduction surgery surgical surgical considerations surgical safety checklist surgicalcare surgicalphysiology surgicalpractice surgicalsafety surgicalteamwork surgicaltechniques systemic tachycardia teaching styles team time-out teamwork techniques teg temperature testing therapies tonsillectomy topical topicalhaemostats tracheostomy training tranexamic acid transfusion transfusion reaction trauma treatment tryptase ultrasound ultrasoundprobes vascular surgery vasopressor ventilation vf videolaryngoscope volatileagents vortex approach vt waste wellbeing whole blood workshop