In the latest issue of Health Devices, ECRI
Institute analyzed the safety of forced-air patient warming, concluding
that thermal currents are “particularly worrisome” in implant surgery.
Dr. Scott Augustine, inventor of both Bair Hugger and (air-free) HotDog
patient warming and CEO of Augustine Temperature Management, comments.
Minneapolis, MN (PRWeb), April 17, 2013 - After reviewing multiple published, peer-review articles addressing the consequences of the convection currents created by the waste heat produced by forced-air devices, ECRI stated:
- “The disruption of air-flow patterns is particularly worrisome in laminar-flow and ultraclean ORs, in which a wide variety of implant surgeries are performed.”
- “This is especially concerning during orthopedic surgeries because contamination of the surgical site may present a greater risk of developing a PJI, which is harder to treat and resolve than would be the case with SSIs in general.”
