Influence of perioperative hypothermia on blood clotting in children.

OBJECTIVES

The decrease of body temperature is one of the causes of blood clotting disorders.

BACKGROUND

Accidental hypothermia during anesthesia is a common condition and children, especially newborns, are the most sensitive patients to the side effects of hypothermia.

METHODS

Web of Science, SCOPUS and PubMed search was performed to retrieve both original and review articles addressing both, hypothermia during surgery and coagulation disorder in pediatric patients.

RESULTS

The most common perioperative hypothermia is in pediatric patients during cardio surgical operations using cardiopulmonary bypass, which corresponds to the largest number of published articles dealing with the relationship of perioperative hypothermia and coagulopathy in children.

CONCLUSION

More detailed information on the temperature when the patient is already at risk of developing a clinically significant coagulation disorder and differentiating other factors affecting hemostasis is a subject of further investigation (Tab. 1, Fig. 1, Ref. 20). Text in PDF www.elis.sk.