Does surrounding temperature influence the rate of hypothermia during Caesarean section?

Editor —I read the meta-analysis by Sultan and colleagues1 and the comment thereon by Nair2 with great interest. Although the duration of a Caesarean section is short, the exposed abdomen loses warmth by radiation and convection, leading to a reportedly high rate of hypothermia after surgery. In addition to the size of the exposed area, temperature loss is proportional to the difference in temperature (Fourier ’s law). I am astonished that neither the review by Sultan and colleagues1, nor other reviews like the one by Munday and colleagues,3 mention the temperature of the operation theatre as an influential factor to the parturitients ’ and neonates’ body temperature. Unfortunately this leaves me clueless as to which temperature I should recommend for setting the operation theatre air-conditioning system.
Source: British Journal of Anaesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research