The effectiveness of the newly designed thermal gown on hypothermic patients after spinal surgery

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To develop the newly designed thermal gown to test the effectiveness in relieving postoperative hypothermia as compared to traditional cotton cloth.

Background: Hypothermia is a common problem after spinal surgery. A patient's safety and comfort are significant. Currently, most research is focused on instruments that relieve a patient's hypothermia. Studies have rarely considered a patient's comfort while caring for their body temperature.

Design: This study employed an experimental design. The participants were assigned randomly to two groups: the experimental group (N = 50) and the control group (N = 50).

Methods: The experimental group received the newly designed thermal gown intervention. The control group received the standard postanaesthesia care unit re-warming intervention. The material used to collect data included demographic data, postoperative management and comfort level. Nurses measured patients' vital signs and asked for patients' subjective comfort level on admission to the postanaesthesia care unit every 10 minutes until their discharge from the postanaesthesia care unit.

Result: The accumulated percentage for thermal gown group patients in reaching 36 °C during the first 20 minutes of admission was significantly higher than that of the cotton cloth group. The thermal gown group individuals showed significantly higher comfort levels (score = 4) at 10 minutes, when compared to the cotton cloth group.

Conclusion: Results suggested that the newly designed thermal gown had effectively improved postoperative temperature and comfort level with an evidence-based intervention.

Relevance to clinical practice: Maintaining a patient's body temperature is a major task for nurses working in the post-anaesthesia care unit. With the newly designed thermal gown, the duration of a patient's stay in the postanaesthesia care unit was shortened and the patient's comfort was increased.

Keywords: comfort; cotton cloth; hypothermic; newly designed thermal gown; spinal surgery.