Warming of Irrigation Fluids for Prevention of Perioperative Hypothermia During Arthroscopy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To determine whether warming of irrigation fluids (32°C-40°C) compared with using room-temperature irrigation fluids (20°C-22°C) decreases the risk of perioperative hypothermia (<36°C) for patients undergoing shoulder, hip, or knee arthroscopy.

METHODS: One reviewer, with the assistance of a medical librarian, searched the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Level I and II studies involving shoulder, hip, or knee arthroscopy were included. Two reviewers screened the abstracts and titles. Two reviewers assessed the risk of bias of selected studies using The Cochrane Collaboration tool. Meta-analyses were conducted on the following outcomes: hypothermia, lowest temperature, maximum temperature drop, and shivering.

RESULTS: Seven studies of patients undergoing arthroscopy were included in the qualitative synthesis (5 shoulder studies, 1 hip study, and 1 knee study; 501 patients). The study involving knee arthroscopy was excluded from the meta-analyses because of insufficient data and high clinical heterogeneity (surgical site distal to the core, not involving extravasation of large amounts of fluid). The remaining 6 studies were included in 1 or more meta-analyses: hypothermia (5 shoulder and 1 hip study), lowest temperature (3 shoulder and 1 hip study), maximum temperature drop (2 shoulder and 1 hip study), and shivering (5 shoulder and 1 hip study). Warming of irrigation fluids for shoulder or hip arthroscopy significantly decreased the risk of hypothermia (odds ratio, 0.15; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-0.40; P = .0001), increased the lowest mean temperature (mean difference, 0.46°C; 95% CI, 0.11°C-0.81°C; P = .01), decreased the maximum temperature drop (mean difference, -0.64°C; 95% CI, -0.94°C to -0.35°C; P < .0001), and decreased the risk of shivering (odds ratio, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.07-0.86; P = .03).

CONCLUSIONS: When irrigation fluids are warmed for shoulder and hip arthroscopy, the risk of hypothermia is less, the drop in intraoperative temperature is less, the lowest body temperature is higher, and the risk of postoperative shivering is reduced.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, systematic review of Level I and II studies.