Under-tongue temperature taking can prevent hypothermia

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that monitoring a patient’s temperature can help avoid the development of hypothermia during surgery.

During surgery, hypothermia, which is defined as the body temperature dropping below 36.0C, can lead to the patient losing more blood, increase the chance of heart problems, and cause slower healing.

NICE have therefore provided updated guideline on preventing and managing hypothermia during surgery, highlighting that common methods of taking a patient’s temperature, such as infrared ear thermometers and forehead strips, should not be used to measure the temperature in adults before, during or after surgery.

New recommendations include that all adults having surgery should be given help to stay warm before their operation, and active warming for all patients should start at least 30 mins before the anaesthetic is given, unless emergency surgery is needed.

Professor Mark Baker, director for the centre of guidelines at NICE, said: “Keeping patients warm before, during and after surgery is essential for helping reduce clinical problems such as increased blood loss, longer recovery and delayed healing. The method used to take a patient’s temperature before surgery is important, with methods that measure core temperature of the blood or organs being most accurate. Under the tongue measurements are also fine for patients with near-normal temperatures.

“This updated guideline also underlines the importance of hospital staff ensuring that all patients are kept warm at all stages of surgery – not only patients at higher risk of hypothermia.

“Patients and their families or carers should be told about the importance of the person staying warm before surgery, and they are also encouraged to tell staff if they feel cold. We hope this updated guideline will help improve outcomes for patients having surgery.”