Intravascular temperature management of a patient undergoing pancreatic head resection

Abstract

Peri-operative hypothermia has a high incidence during major abdominal surgery and is associated with serious complications. Intravascular temperature management (IVTM) is a wellestablished technique in critical care medicine. There is currently limited experience in its use to maintain peri-operative normothermia, however recent improvements in technical specifications of IVTM catheters suggest a promising approach for intra-operative use.In this report, we describe a case where intra-operative IVTM was used in addition to conventional non-invasive temperature management (NITM) in order to prevent hypothermia. Due to this management, the patient undergoing pancreatic head resection did not develop hypothermia at any time of the procedure. This highlights that intra-operative use of IVTM could be considered as an additional component of peri-operative temperature management during abdominal surgery.