Peripheral warming for prevention of hypothermia in small dogs during soft tissue surgery: A randomized controlled trial
Peripheral warming for prevention of hypothermia in small dogs during soft tissue surgery: A randomized controlled trial
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In our edition of: Dec 2024
In our categories of: small animals
our summary:
Kudo, A. et al. (2024) Peripheral warming for prevention of hypothermia in small dogs during soft-tissue surgery: a randomized controlled trial. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 51 (6), pp. 658-666.
The aim of this prospective randomised controlled study was to evaluate the effect of limb wrapping with table leg covers, in addition to routine thermal support, on the rectal temperature (RT) of dogs undergoing anaesthesia. The authors hypothesised that wrapping the limbs would minimise hypothermia during anaesthesia in small dogs.
Client owned dogs with a body mass >15 kg attending a university veterinary teaching hospital in Japan between September 2022 and October 2023 were eligible for inclusion. Dogs were excluded from the study if they were hypothermic or hyperthermic at the time of presentation, if the table leg covers could not be wrapped around three or more limbs, if RT was not recorded at the time of admission and if RT monitoring was not possible. Dogs with a history of brachycephalic airway syndrome or portal vein shunt syndrome were also excluded as were dogs undergoing diagnostic or other procedures between anaesthesia induction and surgery. Body condition score was evaluated on a five-point scale before anaesthesia.
Dogs were randomly allocated to either the control group or the limb wrapping group. The control group received routine thermal support using a warm air blanket, dogs in the limb-wrapping group additionally had their peripheral limbs wrapped after anaesthesia induction.
Sixty-six dogs were initially included in the study, six of these were later excluded due to RT measurement failure, leaving 30 dogs in each group. There were no significant differences between the groups in body mass, age, body condition score or ASA-PS classification. Both groups had a median score of three for body condition score and ASA-PS classification.
There was no significant difference in RT between the two groups at intubation. RT decreased in both groups during anaesthesia with the limb-wrapping group maintaining a higher overall RT. At incision the RT was slightly higher in the limb-wrapping group although the difference was not significant. RT was significantly higher in the limb-wrapping group at both 15 and 30 minutes after incision and at the end of surgery. The incidence of hypothermia (RT <37C) at the end of surgery was significantly lower in the limb-wrapping group.
Limitations of the study include the small sample size. The fact that several dogs had to be excluded from the study due to not being able to have their limbs wrapped may have implications for application of this technique in practice.
The study provides some evidence that the inexpensive, and readily available, technique of wrapping the limbs of small animals during anaesthesia has the potential to slow down intraoperative rectal temperature reduction and help prevent hypothermia. Future studies could helpfully examine the effect of the number of wrapped limbs on temperature retention.
The following may also be of interest:
Rose, N., Kwong, G.P. and Pang, D.S. (2016) A clinical audit cycle of post‐operative hypothermia in dogs. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 57 (9), pp.447-452. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsap.12547
Kreisler, R.E. et al. (2023)2Effects of peripheral active warming and passive insulation on core body temperature during feline ovariohysterectomy: a multi-arm randomized clinical trial. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 25 (3), https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612X231157585
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