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Temperature management

Proactively maintain normothermia and help enhance surgical outcomes

Our temperature management solutions are designed to help maintain normothermia. Maintaining normothermia before, during and after surgery is a crucial step in reducing the risk of surgical complications associated with hypothermia.

Explore 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Temperature Management Solutions Explore Ranger™ Blood and Fluid Warming Systems
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Prewarming overview Importance of normothermia Maintaining normothermia Prewarming guidelines Patient monitoring solutions Explore more Contact us
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Prewarming overview
Importance of normothermia
Maintaining normothermia
Prewarming guidelines
Patient monitoring solutions
Explore more
Contact us

90%

Surgical Patients

Experienced unintended 
perioperative hypothermia.1,2

35+

Years

Helping to protect patients from unintended perioperative hypothermia.

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400M+

Patients

Warmed globally with the Bair Hugger Warming System.

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Prewarming: A key to helping prevent hypothermia

A few degrees can make all the difference in helping to maintain normothermia. Any patient undergoing general or regional anesthesia is susceptible to perioperative hypothermia as their body’s response to temperature (thermoregulation) mechanisms becomes impaired. In fact, short durations of prewarming administered before anesthesia induction can help to reduce intraoperative heat loss.3

A female patient sits in a chair in a light purple room while wearing a 3M Bair Hugger Warming Gown System.

Effects of anesthesia on patient core temperature

During the first 60 minutes of anesthesia, research has shown that the core temperature for unwarmed surgical patients can drop up to 1.6°C,4 as anesthesia-induced vasodilation allows the body’s warmer blood to flow freely from the core to its cooler periphery. 

Image illustrating the effects of anesthesia with body temperature, on white background

Under normal circumstances, the body controls its temperature within a very tight tolerance, with its core 2°–4°C warmer than its periphery. This temperature gradient between the core and the periphery is caused by normal thermoregulatory vasoconstriction.

Image illustrating the effects of anesthesia throughout two bodies, on white background

Anesthesia causes vasodilation, which allows the warmer blood to flow freely from the core and mix with the blood from the cooler periphery. As the blood circulates, it cools until returning to the heart, causing a drop in core temperature. This drop in temperature is called a redistribution temperature drop (RTD).

Image illustrating the effects of anesthesia through the body on white background

Prewarming with forced-air warming can increase the temperature of the body’s peripheral tissues, limiting the amount of heat lost from the core through RTD. The warmer periphery limits the blood’s rate of cooling and allows the blood to return to the core at a higher temperature.

Key benefits of prewarming

Prewarming with 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Warming Blankets or Gowns can help:

  • Reduce core temperature drop by decreasing the core‑to‑periphery temperature gradient 
  • Maintain normothermia, in conjunction with intraoperative warming, which can reduce the rate of numerous complications, including surgical site infections (SSIs)5,6
  • Proactively warm your patient’s periphery, before the induction of anesthesia, banking heat to help ward off heat loss due to RTD
  • Improve patient satisfaction

Maintaining normothermia can help reduce risk

The maintenance of a normal core body temperature, normothermia, is a crucial component of patient safety. Core temperatures outside the normal range can pose a risk in all patients undergoing surgery and have been associated with an increased risk of surgical complications, including: 

Bair Hugger Photo Shoot Image 2 - TIF File

Increased rate of SSIs5,6

Increased surgical blood loss7,8

Increased mortality9

Extended recovery time10,11

Increased patient discomfort5,12,13

Continuously monitor body temperature to improve surgical outcomes and reduce cost

One challenge in the management of patient temperature lies in effective temperature measurement and monitoring. Although core temperature is a vital sign, it is frequently thought of as being less important than other vitals monitored during anesthesia. Core temperature should be continuously monitored so that it can be effectively managed, keeping patients within the normothermic temperature zone.



Core body temperature is a critical vital sign that should be monitored throughout the perioperative journey. Proactively monitoring temperature with a consistent, accurate and non-invasive system can help you maintain normothermia (36.0°C - 37.5°C)14,15 and protect patients from unintended perioperative hypothermia, a complication associated with numerous negative outcomes, including surgical site infection.5,6



Wondering if this is an area your organization can improve? Request a temperature management review

Bair Hugger Photo Shoot Image 5 - TIF File

Improve outcomes, reduce costs

Helping patients maintain a normal core body temperature is key to improving surgical outcomes and reducing or eliminating costs linked to hypothermia-related complications.

3M Bair Hugger warming system helps to maintain normothermia which can reduce the risk of complications associated with hypothermia.

$66

Average cost of an operating room minute16

$203

Mean acquisition cost of a unit of blood19

$25k

Average cost of a surgical site infection21

$14.67

Average cost of cotton blanket per surgical patient23,24

$1,629

Average cost per inpatient day26

$10

Average cost per post-anesthesia care unit minute27

  • Prewarming, combined with intraoperative warming, helps maintain normothermia17,18
  • Patient wearing the Bair Hugger warming gown arrives in OR ready to be warmed
  • Maintaining normothermia may reduce surgical bleeding and the need for blood products20
  • Mild hypothermia (< 1°C) increases blood loss by 16% and relative risk for transfusion by 22%8
  • Maintaining normothermia can reduce the risk for surgical wound infection22
  • Wound infection rates have been shown to be higher for hypothermic vs. normothermic patients22
  • One Bair Hugger warming gown has been shown to replace as many as nine cotton blankets25 during the perioperative period - and delivers both comfort and clinical warming26
  • Hypothermic patients’ duration of hospitalization has been shown to be 20% longer (2.6 days) than normothermic patients22
  • Maintenance of normothermia shortens the duration of hospitalization22
  • Maintaining normothermia can shorten postoperative recovery because patients arrive in the PACU warmer20

Prewarming guidelines and best practices

Best Practices in Active Prewarming: A Summary of Current Guidelines/Recommendations
Read more

Effective temperature management solutions

To help you maintain normothermia

We want to help you restore patients’ lives for the better. So, we listen closely to understand your toughest challenges, then find new ways to create innovative temperature management solutions so you can provide more efficient care.



That’s why we’ve designed a wide range of solutions including the 3M™ Bair Hugger Temperature Monitoring System, 3M™ Bair Hugger Warming System, 3M™ Ranger Blood/Fluid and Irrigation Fluid Warming Systems and Pressure Infusors aimed to help you maintain normothermia, create positive patient experiences and improve surgical outcomes. 

3M Bair Hugger Temperature Management Solutions

The 3M™ Bair Hugger™ Temperature Management Solutions combines a warming system and a temperature monitoring system. They provide an easy-to-use, clinically supported method of measuring, monitoring and maintaining your patients’ core temperature.

Learn more about Bair Hugger Temperature Management Solutions
Bair Hugger Patient Adjustable Warming Unit Model 875, Bair Hugger Warming Unit Model 775, Bair Hugger Warming Unit Model 675, Bair Hugger Universal Warming Gown, Bair Hugger Booties and Bair Hugger Full Body Warming Blanket
3M Ranger Solutions

The Ranger Blood and Fluid Warming System was designed to prioritize flow rate and dry heat with its end user in mind. Dry heat technology adapts to virtually any fluid warming need from keep vein open (KVO) to 500 mL/min or 30 L/hour. That means fast, accurate heat control which minimizes the risk of overheating fluids.

Learn more about Ranger Blood and Fluid Warming System
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Guide

Power of prewarming

Power of Prewarming
View now

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The 3M Peak Clinical Outcomes Program

Make a difference with our 3M™ Peak™ Clinical Outcomes Program. Learn more about our collaborative approach to practice improvements associated with the use of our solutions and helping you improve your patient’s surgical outcomes.

Learn more
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References:

  1. Forstot RM. The etiology and management of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. J Clin Anesth. 1995;7:657-674.   
  2. Leslie K, Sessler DI. Perioperative hypothermia in the high-risk surgical patient. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2003;17:485-498. 
  3. Horn EP, Bein B, Bohm R, Steinfath M, Sahili N, Hocker J. The effect of short time periods of pre-operative warming in the prevention of peri-operative hypothermia. Anaesth. 2012;67(6) 
  4. Hooven K. Preprocedure warming maintains normothermia throughout the perioperative period: a quality improvement project. JoPAN. 2011;26910:9-14 
  5. Kurz A, Sessler DI, et al. Perioperative Normothermia to Reduce the Incidence of Surgical-Wound Infection and Shorten Hospitalization. New Engl J Med. 1996;334:1209-1215.  
  6. Melling AC, Ali B, Scott EM, Leaper DJ. Effects of preoperative warming on the incidence of wound infection after a clean surgery: a randomized controlled trial. Lancet. 2001;358(9285):876-880. 
  7. Schmied H, Kurz A, et al. Mild hypothermia increases blood loss and transfusion requirements during total hip arthroplasty. The Lancet. 1996;347(8997):289-292. 
  8. Rajagopalan S, et al. The Effects of Mild Perioperative Hypothermia on Blood Loss and Transfusion Requirement. Anesth. 2008; 108:71-7. 
  9. Bush H Jr., Hydo J, Fischer E, et al. Hypothermia during elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: The high price of avoidable morbidity. J Vasc Surg. 1995;21(3): 392-402. 
  10. Frank SM, Fleisher LA, Breslow MJ, et al. Perioperative maintenance of normothermia reduces the incidence of morbid cardiac events. JAMA. 1997;277:1127-1134. 
  11. Scott AV, Stonemetz JL, Wasey JO, Johnson DJ, Rivers RJ, Koch CG, et al. (2015) Compliance with Surgical Care Improvement Project for Body Temperature Management (SCIP Inf-10) Is Associated with Improved Clinical Outcomes. Anesth. 123: 116–125. 
  12. Fossum S, Hays J, Henson MM. A Comparison Study on the Effects of Prewarming Patients in the Outpatient Surgery Setting. J PeriAnesth Nurs. 2001;16(3):187-194. 
  13. Wilson L, Kolcaba K. Practical Application of Comfort Theory in the Perianesthesia Setting. J PeriAnesth Nurs. 2004;19(3):164-173. 
  14. Schroeck H, Lyden AK, Benedict WL, Ramachandran SK. Time trends and predictors of abnormal postoperative body temperature in infants transported to the intensive care unit. Anesthesiol Res Pract. 2016;7318137. doi:10.1155/2016/7318137. 
  15. Hooper VD, Chard R, Clifford T, et al. ASPAN’s evidence-based clinical practice guideline for the promotion of perioperative normothermia: Second edition. J Perianesth Nurs. 2010;25(6):346-365. doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2010.10.006. 
  16. Shippert, R. Am Journal Cosmetic Surg. 2005;22(1):25-34.  
  17. Yilmaz, M. et. al. Anesth. 2008;109 Abstract 880.  
  18. Andrzejowski, J. et. al. BJA. 2008;101(5):627-631.  
  19. Shander, A. et. al. Transfusion. 2010;50:753-765.  
  20. Mahoney, CB. Odom, J. AANA J. 1999;67(2):155-164.  
  21. Stone, P. AJIC. 2005;33(9):501- 509.  
  22. Kurt, A. et al. N Engl J Med. 1996;334:1209-15  
  23. VPMR survey results. Warming Methods Cost Comparison Research, sponsored by 3M July 2012.  
  24. The Key Group survey results. Hospital Linen Usage and Cost Analysis Survey, sponsored by 3M November 2011.  
  25. Senn, Girard F. Surg Serv Management. 2002; 8:19-2S  
  26. Oh,1. ASC Communications 2012. April 30, 2012. Source: Kaiser State Health Facts.  
  27. Steinriede, K. Outpatient Surg. October 2010.