The Bair Hugger patient warming system in prolonged vascular surgery: an infection risk?

• Published in: Critical care (London, England) Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. R13 - R16
• Main Authors: Huang, Joseph K C, Shah, Elizabeth F, Vinodkumar, Narayanan, Hegarty, M A, Greatorex, Robert A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England National Library of Medicine - MEDLINE Abstracts 01.06.2003; BioMed Central Ltd; BioMed Central
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Air Microbiology; Aorta, Abdominal - surgery; Colony Count, Microbial; Equipment Contamination; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Heating - adverse effects; Heating - instrumentation; Humans; Intraoperative Care - adverse effects; Intraoperative Care - instrumentation; Male; Middle Aged; Operating Rooms; Prospective Studies; Surgical Wound Infection - etiology; Surgical Wound Infection - microbiology; Time; Vascular Surgical Procedures - instrumentation
• ISSN: 1364-8535; 1364-8535; 1466-609X
• DOI: 10.1186/cc1888

Use of the Bair Hugger forced-air patient warming system during prolonged abdominal vascular surgery may lead to increased bacterial contamination of the surgical field by mobilization of the patient's skin flora. This possibility was studied by analyzing bacterial content in air and wound specimens collected during surgery in 16 patients undergoing abdominal vascular prosthetic graft insertion procedure, using the Bair Hugger patient warming system. The bacterial colony counts from the beginning and the end of surgery were compared, and the data analyzed using the Wilcoxon matched pairs test. The results showed not only that there was no increase in bacterial counts at the study sites, but also that there was a decrease (P < 0.01) in air bacterial content around the patient and in the operating theatre after prolonged use of the patient warmer. No wound or graft infections occurred. The use of this warming system does not lead to increased bacterial contamination of the operating theatre atmosphere, and it is unlikely to affect the surgical field adversely.