Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Post-surgery low body temperature in dogs and how warming helps
By Rose, N et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2016·Western Veterinary Specialist and Emergency Centre, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A clinical audit cycle of post-operative hypothermia in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A clinical audit looked at how often dogs experienced low body temperatures after surgery, which can be a serious issue. The first audit found that 88% of dogs were hypothermic (with temperatures below 37°C) and took an average of 7.5 hours to warm up. After implementing changes like using a forced air warmer and checking temperatures every hour, the second audit showed improvement, with 75% of dogs reaching a safe temperature within 3.5 hours. However, the overall rate of hypothermia at the time of waking from anesthesia remained high at 97%.
People also search for: dog post-surgery low temperature · how to keep dog warm after surgery · dog hypothermia treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Use of clinical audits to assess and improve perioperative hypothermia management in client-owned dogs. METHODS: Two clinical audits were performed. In Audit 1 data were collected to determine the incidence and duration of perioperative hypothermia (defined as rectal temperatures <37·0°C). The results from Audit 1 were used to reach consensus on changes to be implemented to improve temperature management, including re-defining hypothermia as rectal temperature <37·5°C. Audit 2 was performed after 1 month with changes in place. RESULTS: Audit 1 revealed a high incidence of post-operative hypothermia (88·0%) and prolonged time periods (7·5 hours) to reach normothermia. Consensus changes were to use a forced air warmer on all dogs and measure rectal temperatures hourly post-operatively until temperature ≥37·5°C. After 1 month with the implemented changes, Audit 2 identified a significant reduction in the time to achieve a rectal temperature of ≥37·5°C, with 75% of dogs achieving this goal by 3·5 hours. The incidence of hypothermia at tracheal extubation remained high in Audit 2 (97·3% with a rectal temperature <37·5°C). CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Post-operative hypothermia was improved through simple changes in practice, showing that clinical audit is a useful tool for monitoring post-operative hypothermia and improving patient care. Overall management of perioperative hypothermia could be further improved with earlier intervention.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27593195/