Pediatric perioperative hypothermia prevention
Pronunciation: high-po-THER-mee-ah
Strategies to maintain normothermia in pediatric patients during surgery, accounting for their increased heat loss vulnerability.
Full Definition
Pediatric perioperative hypothermia prevention encompasses multiple strategies to maintain core body temperature in children during surgery, who are at higher risk for heat loss due to their large surface area-to-body weight ratio and immature thermoregulation. Prevention measures include preoperative warming, increased ambient operating room temperature (typically 75-80°F), forced-air warming devices, warming of IV fluids and irrigation solutions, and minimizing skin exposure. Hypothermia in pediatric patients can lead to increased oxygen consumption, delayed emergence from anesthesia, coagulopathy, and increased surgical site infections. Temperature monitoring is essential, with core temperature maintained above 36°C (96.8°F).
Usage
Usage note: Use complete phrase for clarity; hyphenate when used as compound modifier.
In Context
- "Pediatric perioperative hypothermia prevention included prewarming the patient and increasing the OR temperature to 78°F." — Anesthesia plan
- "The comprehensive pediatric perioperative hypothermia prevention protocol reduced the incidence of postoperative shivering." — Quality improvement report