A prospective randomized study of the efficacy of continuous active warming in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy.

Abstract

Background: The RCT study on the efficacy of continuous active warming (CAW) in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy is scarce. The purpose of this research was to determine if a significant difference between continuous active warming (CAW) and active warming when body temperature is below 36 °C (BAW) in terms of incidence of intraoperative hypothermia and clinical rehabilitation in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy surgery.

Methods: A prospective, randomized and controlled trial with a sample of 62 patients who underwent elective total laparoscopic radical gastrectomy was conducted. Patients assigned to CAW group were warmed immediately since the surgical incision procedure, the others were warmed while the body bladder temperature dropped to 36 °C. The bladder temperature of the patient was recorded every 30 min during the operation. One-way ANOVA and ANOVA with repeated measures were used for comparisons between multiple groups, independent samples t-test for pair-wise comparisons.

Results: This study included a total of 62 patients, with 31 in each group. Among them, there were 52 males and 10 females, with an age range of 39 to 83 years. The mean age in the CAW group was (62.52 ± 8.15) years, and in the BAW group, it was (62.74 ± 9.20) years. The overall incidence of hypothermia was 16.13% in 62 patients who underwent elective total laparoscopic radical gastrectomy. The incidence of shivering and agitation after operation was both 3.23% in CAW group, and it was 32.26% and 29.03% in BAW group. Time from end of surgery to tracheal extubation in CAW group was significantly lower than BAW group. In addition, continuous active warming could shorten time to first postoperative flatus of patients and relieve postoperative pain.

Conclusion: Our study showed that continuous active warming in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy decreased the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia and contributed to postoperative rehabilitation.

Trial registration: It was permitted by the Ethics Committee of Xijing Hospital, Air Force Military Medical University, China. No. KY20212024-C-1 25/01/2021 and was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registration Center (11/02/2025) ( www.chictr.org.cn ; registration number: ChiCTR2500097060).