Objectives: To explore the association between intraoperative hypothermia and perioperative blood loss and blood transfusion requirements in patients with operative pelvic and acetabular fractures.
Design: Retrospective review.
Setting: Single, Level 1 trauma center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Patients/participants: Three hundred seventy-four patients who underwent surgical fixation of an acetabular fracture and/or pelvic ring injury at a single Level 1 trauma center during the years 2013-2017.
Main outcome measures: Estimated blood loss during surgery (EBL, mL), drain output (mL) on postoperative day 1 (POD1), and rate of postoperative packed red blood cell (pRBC) transfusion (%).
Results: A significant association was found between intraoperative hypothermia and postoperative transfusion requirement (P = 0.016). The rate of postoperative blood transfusion was 42% for patients with intraoperative hypothermia compared with 28% for controls. In a subgroup analysis of patients presenting with an admission acidosis, the rate of postoperative transfusion was significantly increased to more than 4 times as likely when intraoperative hypothermia was present, even after controlling for admission hemoglobin, Injury Severity Score, and rate of preoperative transfusion (OR 4.4; P = 0.018).
Conclusions: For patients with pelvic trauma who present with an admission acidosis, intraoperative hypothermia is an independent risk factor for postoperative blood transfusion. This information is clinically important given the modifiable nature of intraoperative patient temperature and the known complications and sequelae associated with increased transfusion rates.
Level of evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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