Effects of Short Preoperative Warming Time on Transurethral Lithotripsy Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: Preoperative warming prevents inadvertent perioperative hypothermia (IPH). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of preoperative warming (prewarming) on patient thermal protection and to explore the appropriate duration of preoperative warming for clinical practice.

Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial.

Methods: 117 urological patients were randomized into no prewarming (NP), prewarming 15 minutes (P-15), and prewarming 30 minutes (P-30) groups. Patients' core temperature was monitored and the incidence of IPH, incidence of postoperative shivering, extubation time, length of stay in the postanesthesia care unit, and length of stay in hospital were recorded. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist was followed.

Findings: The intraoperative core temperature at all time points and the rise in temperature before induction of anesthesia were higher in the P-15 and P-30 groups than in the NP group, but there was no statistically significant difference between the P-15 and P-30 groups. The incidence of IPH was lower in the P-15 (33.3%) and P-30 (37.8%) groups than in the NP group (65.8%), but there was no statistically significant difference between the P-15 and P-30 groups. The incidence of shivering, extubation time, length of stay in the postanesthesia care unit, and length of stay in hospital did not differ between groups.

Conclusions: Prewarming can effectively maintain intraoperative core temperature in patients undergoing transurethral lithotripsy, and reduce the incidence of IPH. Prewarming 15 minutes before surgery can achieve beneficial clinical effects.