In the fixed effect model , the warming group had significantly less pain and lower incidence of wound infection , compared with the no-warming group .
In the r and om effect model , the warming group was also associated with lower risk of post-anesthetic shivering .
Both in the r and om and the fixed effect models , the warming group was associated with significantly less blood loss .
Perioperative warming of surgical patients is effective in reducing postoperative wound pain , wound infection and shivering .
Systemic warming of the surgical patient is also associated with less perioperative blood loss through preventing hypothermia-induced coagulopathy .
OBJECTIVE The objective of this review was to systematic ally analyze the trials on the effectiveness of perioperative warming in surgical patients .
Supplemental perioperative oxygen to reduce the incidence of surgical-wound infection.
BACKGROUND Destruction by oxidation , or oxidative killing , is the most important defense against surgical pathogens and depends on the partial pressure of oxygen in contaminated tissue . An easy method of improving oxygen tension in adequately perfused tissue is to increase the concentration of inspired oxygen . We therefore tested the hypothesis that the supplemental administration of oxygen during the perioperative period decreases the incidence of wound infection . METHODS We r and omly assigned 500 patients undergoing colorectal resection  to receive 30 percent or 80 percent inspired oxygen during the operation and for two hours afterward . Anesthetic treatment was st and ardized , and all patients received prophylactic antibiotic therapy . With use of a double-blind protocol , wounds were evaluated daily until the patient was discharged and then at a clinic visit two weeks after surgery . We considered wounds with culture-positive pus to be infected . The timing of suture removal and the date of discharge were determined by the surgeon , who did not know the patient 's treatment-group assignment . RESULTS Arterial oxygen saturation was normal in both groups ; however , the arterial and subcutaneous partial pressure of oxygen was significantly higher in the patients given 80 percent oxygen than in those given 30 percent oxygen . Among the 250 patients who received 80 percent oxygen , 13 ( 5.2 percent ; 95 percent confidence interval , 2.4 to 8.0 percent ) had surgical-wound infections , as compared with 28 of the 250 patients given 30 percent oxygen ( 11.2 percent ; 95 percent confidence interval , 7.3 to 15.1 percent ; P=0.01 ) . The absolute difference between groups was 6.0 percent ( 95 percent confidence interval , 1.2 to 10.8 percent ) . The duration of hospitalization was similar in the two groups . CONCLUSIONS The perioperative administration of supplemental oxygen is a practical method of reducing the incidence of surgical-wound infections
In the fixed effect model , the warming group had significantly less pain and lower incidence of wound infection , compared with the no-warming group .
In the r and om effect model , the warming group was also associated with lower risk of post-anesthetic shivering .
Both in the r and om and the fixed effect models , the warming group was associated with significantly less blood loss .
Perioperative warming of surgical patients is effective in reducing postoperative wound pain , wound infection and shivering .
Systemic warming of the surgical patient is also associated with less perioperative blood loss through preventing hypothermia-induced coagulopathy .
OBJECTIVE The objective of this review was to systematic ally analyze the trials on the effectiveness of perioperative warming in surgical patients .