Clinical trial NCT02225743: Observational Examination of Thermoregulation in Total Joint Arthroplasty
Official title: Observational Examination of Thermoregulation in Total Joint Arthroplasty
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Hypothermia
Keywords: Hypothermia
Total Hip Joint Prosthesis
Total Knee Joint Prosthesis
Lead sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-08-26
Enrollment: 120
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: CASE_ONLY
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Adults 18 years or older that are having a total joint replacement surgery.

Brief summary: Total joint patients have poor outcomes with infection since they are having permanent hardware implanted. Infection prevention in this group is therefore critical and a major source of discussion in both the orthopedic and anesthesia literature.

Hypothermia has been shown to increase the risk of infection and blood loss. However, studies have not examined when in the operation or how fast patients temperatures drop. This study will observe how patients' temperatures change during total joint arthroplasty. By identifying when body temperature changes occur, prevention strategies may be developed and implemented.

Detailed description: Peri-operative hypothermia can have deleterious effects. While there is no standard consistent definition within the literature mild hypothermia is commonly defined as a core temperature between 34 and 36 °C. Mild hypothermia has been shown to increase the occurrence of surgical site infections, cardiac morbidity, coagulopathy leading to increased blood loss and transfusion requirements, impaired drug metabolism, and prolonged emergence from anesthesia. In addition, there is evidence that maintaining intra-operative normothermia can shorten hospital length of stay. Despite the fact that intra-operative temperature monitoring and warming are considered standard of care, peri-operative hypothermia in total joint arthroplasty patients remains an issue for several reasons. A large proportion of patient undergoing joint replacement are elderly, making them susceptible to peri-operative hypothermia. In addition, regional anesthesia causes vasodilation and promotes heat flow from the core to the periphery and impairs central and autonomic thermoregulation such that patients receiving neuraxial anesthesia can be particularly susceptible to perioperative hypothermia. Finally, core temperature monitoring is typically not used during regional anesthesia and hypothermia may go undetected for long periods of time.

The primary goal of this study was to examine the incidence of hypothermia during lower extremity arthroplasty. A secondary aim was to identify patient and operative factors associated with hypothermia in order to improve future preventative strategies. Our hypothesis was that peri-operative hypothermia occurs in the majority of patients undergoing lower extremity arthroplasty. In addition, we hypothesized that certain patient and anesthetic factors (such as low body mass index and receiving general anesthesia) would increase the incidence of hypothermia.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Adults 18 years of age and over that are scheduled to undergo total hip or total knee joint arthroplasty.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients unable to give informed consent will be excluded.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Incidence of Hypothermia
timeFrame: Starting with temperature measurement prior to leaving preoperative holding for OR and ending after temperature taken on arrival in recovery room
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Charleston
country: United States
facility: Medical University of South Carolina
state: South Carolina
Study officials:
affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina
name: Sylvia H Wilson, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Medical University of South Carolina
name: Wanda Jones
role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
References:
citation: Kurz A. Thermal care in the perioperative period. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2008 Mar;22(1):39-62. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2007.10.004.
citation: Kurz A, Sessler DI, Lenhardt R. Perioperative normothermia to reduce the incidence of surgical-wound infection and shorten hospitalization. Study of Wound Infection and Temperature Group. N Engl J Med. 1996 May 9;334(19):1209-15. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199605093341901.
citation: Seamon MJ, Wobb J, Gaughan JP, Kulp H, Kamel I, Dempsey DT. The effects of intraoperative hypothermia on surgical site infection: an analysis of 524 trauma laparotomies. Ann Surg. 2012 Apr;255(4):789-95. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e31824b7e35.
citation: Sun Z, Honar H, Sessler DI, Dalton JE, Yang D, Panjasawatwong K, Deroee AF, Salmasi V, Saager L, Kurz A. Intraoperative core temperature patterns, transfusion requirement, and hospital duration in patients warmed with forced air. Anesthesiology. 2015 Feb;122(2):276-85. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000000551.