• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.86-96
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• 2000

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of Warming Therapy used with patients consistantly before and during surgery to on changes in their body temperatures. The data were collected from patients in a university hospital in Taegu between December 1, 1998 and May 31, 1999. The subjects were selected from patients who were hospitalized for total hip replacement surgery. Thirty participants were assigned to two groups : experimental(Warming Therapy) group and control group. Each group consisted of 15 patients. The research design was a repeated measurement design, using a nonequivalent control group. The Warming Therapy, using a forced-air warming blanket, that is a, 'Bair Hugger' was applied to subjects in the experimental group. The subjects in the group were treated with the 'Bair Hugger' to warm up the whole body for 40 minutes before surgery and upper body and face during the operation. The core temperature was measured using a tympanic thermometer. The body temperature of the patients was measured 13 times every 15 minutes during the surgery. After the operation the body temperature of the patients was measured 4 times every 15 minutes, from the time of arrivial in the recovery room to the time of leaving the recovery room. The SPSS Win 9.0 program was used for data analysis. Specific methods tested were done using ${\chi}^2-test$, t-test, repeated measures ANOVA. The findings of the study are as follows. 1. The first hypothesis, 'The level of tympanic temperature for the experimental group which received Warming Therapy will be higher than that of the control group during the operation', was supported (F=32.16, p=.000). 2. The second hypothesis, 'The level of tympanic temperature for the experimental group which received Warming Therapy will be higher than that of the control group after the operation', was supported.(F=33.36, p=.000) 3. During recovery, shivering was observed one patient in the experimental group and seven patients in the control group. In summary, the findings of the study suggest that the 'Warming Therapy' applied before and during the surgery was a very effective treatment for surgical patients in maintaining the core temperature during surgery