Effects of perioperative warm socks-wearing in maintaining core body temperature of patients undergoing spinal surgery.

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.