The effect of warming gowns versus warm blankets on perioperative temperature and pain in total knee arthroplasty

Perioperative hypothermia (PH) is body temperature < 36°C and may occur in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery. Planned hypothermia is necessary in a select number of surgical procedures but inadvertent hypothermia has deleterious consequences. TKA is a painful procedure and PH may enhance or diminish the effect of opioids and TKA pain -- its effect is unclear. A new treatment for PH is a forced-air warming gown. A randomized control trial of 30 TKA patients compared the standard treatment of warm cotton blankets to a forced-air warming gown. Patients treated with the warming gown had higher temperatures (p < 0.001), used less opioid (p = 0.05) and had more satisfaction (p = 0.004) than the standard blanket group. This study suggests that warming gowns may be an effective alternative to averting PH and advocates for more research to explore the relationship between PH and its effect on pain and opioids.