Abstract
To investigate whether warming the feet with socks would prevent hypothermia among patients undergoing spinal surgery. Perioperative hypothermia is a common health problem among spinal surgery patients. This study used a quasi-experimental design. Seventy-two patients were assigned to two groups. The control group (n=36) received usual care without the warmed socks. The intervention group (n=36) received usual care plus warmed socks during operation and recovery period. Data were collected during (180min) and after the surgery (30min) during the period of 7 February-10 April 2015. Core body temperature, shivering response and subjective thermal comfort of the two groups were compared over time using the repeated-measures ANOVA. The oesophageal temperature of the socks-wearing group was maintained between 36.36-36.45°C during surgery (mean=36.41±0.03, 95% CI=36.34-36.47), whereas that of the control was between 35.75-35.97°C (mean=35.98±0.03, 95% CI=35.92-36.04). The tympanic temperature in the recovery room of the socks-wearing group was between 36.28-36.38°C (mean=36.37±0.04, 95% CI=36.29-36.45) and that of the control group was 35.90-36.04°C (mean=35.95±0.04, 95% CI=35.88-36.05). Shivering response of the intervention group (mean=0.04±0.08, 95% CI=-0.13 to 0.21) was significantly lower than that of the control group (mean=0.47±0.08, 95% CI=0.30-0.64) in the recovery room (F=4.28, p<.001). As for subjective thermal comfort, the intervention group (mean=4.86±0.13, 95% CI=4.62-5.13) was significantly lower than that of the control group (mean=3.08±0.13, 95% CI=2.82-3.33) in the recovery room (F=98.13, p<.001). As for the frequency of pethidine medication, the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control (χ2 =5.14, p=.023). The use of perioperative warmed socks for spinal surgery patients was effective in maintaining perioperative core temperature, preventing shivering and maintaining subjective thermal comfort. Considering cost-effectiveness of warmed socks, it might be worth trying option for the maintenance of core temperature in spinal surgery patients.
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