The effect of intravenous fluids infusion at two different temperatures on body temperature and thermal comfort level

Objective: To evaluate the impact of intravenous fluid infusion on patients with postoperative hypothermia at two different temperatures (body temperature = 36ºC or room temperature = 20-25ºC) on core body temperature and thermal comfort level of patients. Method: The study was planned experimentally with randomized controlled clinical trial design. The study was implemented between February 2019 – June 2019 in Ege University Hospital Health Application and Research Center Urology Clinic. Patients who were ordered 1000 ml 0.9% Isotonic Sodium Chloride solution by the physician, undergone TUR-P operation as intravenous fluid treatment. The sample of the study consisted of total 105 males, of whom 54 experiment and of whom 51 were control. Blood and infusion warmer medical device, dosiflow, tympanic membrane thermometer and google play store ambient thermometer application were used as collection tools. In data collection; Patient Identification Form, Patient Follow-up Form, Thermal Comfort Inventory were used. The Bestman Bfw-1000 Blood and Infusion Warmer medical device was used for the warming of the intravenous fluids for the patients in the experimental group. As soon as the infusion starts and every 60 min period, body temperature was measured with tympanic thermometer. Every 120 min thermal comfort was questioned and recorded in the data collection form. Data analysis was performed with SPSS 25.0 program. Results: The mean age of the patients in the experimental group was 67.44±10.50 years. There was a significant difference between the groups in terms of mean body temperature at 60th, 120th, 180th and 240th minutes, and the mean body temperature was found to be higher in the experimental group (p <0.05). The overall total score value of the thermal comfort scale in the experimental group was 60.28±6.48, and the overall total score value of the thermal comfort scale in the control group was 54.19±7.93 (p<0.05). There was a significant difference in mean thermal comfort scale scores between the groups in the middle of infusion, 120 minutes and 240 minutes after infusion (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, it was found that IV fluids given by warming at body temperature increased the body temperature and thermal comfort level compared to IV fluids at room temperature and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Therefore, after the TUR-P operation, it was determined that the IV fluids given by warming at body temperature is an effective nursing intervention that increases both core body temperature and thermal comfort level.