Efficiency of the Thermal Jacket on the delivered temperature of prewarmed crystalloid intravenous fluid.

Warming of intravenous fluids can decrease the incidence of hypothermia in surgical patients. A quasi-experimental research design was used to compare the delivered temperature of fluids using a conventional blood warmer and the Thermal Jacket, an insulation device designed for intravenous fluid bags. Fluids were divided into one control and three experimental groups. Fluids were initially either room temperature (22.05 +/- 0.45 degrees C) or prewarmed to 41.45 +/- 1.05 degrees C and infused using no temperature maintenance device, a Thermal Jacket, or a water bath blood warmer. Temperatures were recorded at 10-minute intervals at flow rates ranging from 100 to 1,000 mL/hr. Analysis of variance showed a highly significant difference between the delivered temperatures using the various temperature maintenance devices, as well as varying flow rates. The Thermal Jacket, used with prewarmed intravenous fluids, was as effective as the conventional method of delivering warmed fluids. Also, within the range of flow rates studied, faster flow rates tended to yield higher delivered temperatures.