Examination of the effect of reflective blanket on reducing the development of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia

The aim of the study is to determine the effect of using reflective blanket, which is a passive insulation product, in preventing inadvertent perioperative hypothermia in patients who are scheduled for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. At the same time, the effect of the reflective blanket on the patients' thermal comfort and shivering levels was also evaluated. Research; randomized controlled clinical trial design was carried out between February 2022 and January 2023 at Bitlis State Hospital affiliated to the Bitlis Provincial Health Directorate. The population of the study consisted of 328 adult patients. Within the scope of the research, a Reference group (hot air blown device), an Intervention group (reflective blanket) and a Control group (routine hospital procedure) were formed. The study was completed with a total of 105 patients, with 35 each patients in each group. The patients in the Reference and Intervention groups were warmed before the surgery (15 minutes), during the surgery and after the anesthesia until they were transferred from the care unit to the clinic. In the control group, no heating process was applied within the scope of the study. The routine care procedure of the hospital was applied to all patients transferred to the clinic. The analysis of the data was performed with SPSS for Windows (21.0) program and the results were evaluated at 95% confidence level. At the time of termination of anesthesia, the incidence of hypothermia was 71.4% in the control group, 42.9% in the intervention group, and 28.6% in the reference group. When the patients were admitted to the post-anesthesia care unit, the incidence of hypothermia was 74.3% in the control group, 40% in the intervention group, and 22.9% in the reference group. While the incidence of hypothermia was 37.1% in the control group during the transfer from the post-anesthesia care unit to the clinic, it was found that all of the intervention and reference group patients reached normothermia. The thermal comfort perception scores of the patients before entering the operating room and in the post-anesthesia care unit were found to be significantly higher in the intervention and reference groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). It was determined that five patients in the control group and one patient in the intervention group had mild tremor while there was no tremor in the reference group when the patients were taken to the post-anesthesia care unit. The use of reflective blankets has been as effective as active heating in reducing the incidence of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia and tremors in patients and increasing the level of perception of thermal comfort and has been superior to the control group. It was concluded that passive heating with a reflective blanket can be a cost-effective alternative in cases where heating with hot air blown systems when it is not possible. Keywords: Inadvertent Perioperative Hypothermia, Reflective Blanket, Thermal Comfort, Passive Heating, Surgery.