• Scott Nightingale, Lisa Wynne, and John Cassey.
• Department of Paediatrics, John Hunter Hospital, NSW, Australia.
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2006 Jun 1;16(6):663-8.

BackgroundNumerous methods of patient warming are used to prevent intraoperative hypothermia in children. Commercially available forced air warming blankets are effective, but are single-use items. We tested a custom-designed heat dissipation unit (HDU) against one such commercially available blanket.MethodsAir temperatures at various points around a mannequin under simulated operating conditions were recorded using thermistors and thermal imaging. The only variable changed was the heating method: a forced air blanket or a customized HDU with two draping techniques - cotton drapes with and without a plastic 'undersheet'.ResultsThe three methods produced similar temperature increases and plateaux across the 11 thermistor points measured. There were no significant differences between temperatures at 1 h. A plastic sheet did not appear to enhance the effectiveness of the HDU in this study. Thermal imaging photography suggested more uniform heating of the mannequin with the HDU arrangements.ConclusionsThe custom-built HDU compares favorably in our mannequin study with a Bair Hugger forced air warming blanket. As it is reusable, it offers considerable potential savings.

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