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INTRODUCTION: This study, entitled “Incidence of Perioperative Hypothermia in Patients Undergoing Neurosurgical Procedures at Hospital Santo Tomás”, examines a frequent surgical complication: inadvertent periopera tive hypothermia. Associated with adverse outcomes, this condition poses increased risk in neurosurgery due to prolonged operative times, extensive body exposure, and general anesthesia.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of perioperative hypothermia in neurosurgical patients treated at Hospital Santo Tomás, and to analyze clinical and demographic characteristics, as well as potential associations with predisposing factors and postoperative complications.
METHODOLOGY: A prospective, observational, analytic, and longitudinal study was conducted between January and April 2025, including 78 patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures. Temperatures were recorded during the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases. In addition, variables were compared between patients who developed hypothermia and those who did not. Non-parametric statistical tests were applied with a 5% significance level.
RESULTS: The study showed a 94.8% incidence of perioperative hypothermia among initially normothermic patients. Despite 92.7% receiving active warming methods, hypothermia remained highly prevalent. No statistically significant associations were found between hypothermia and age, procedure duration, American Society of Anestesiologists classification, comorbidities, type or urgency of surgery, or postoperative complications. In conclusion, perioperative hypothermia was highly prevalent among neurosurgical patients, even with preventive measures. These findings underscore the need to strengthen prevention protocols, implement systematic thermal monitoring, and conduct studies with larger sample sizes to assess its clinical impact.
