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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of preoperative forced-air warming on intraoperative hypothermia., Methods: In this randomized-controlled trial, adult patients scheduled for elective, non-cardiac surgery under general anesthesia were stratified by scheduled surgical duration (< 2.5 hr or ≥ 2.5 hr) and then randomized to a pre-warming group using a BairPaws™ forced-air warming system for at least 30 min preoperatively or to a control group with warmed blankets on request. All patients were warmed intraoperatively via convective forced-air warming blankets. Perioperative temperature was measured using the SpotOn™ temperature system consisting of a single-use disposable sensor applied to the participant's forehead. The primary outcome was the magnitude of intraoperative hypothermia calculated as the area under the time-temperature curve for core temperatures < 36°C between induction of general anesthesia and leaving the operating room. Secondary outcomes included surgical site infections, packed red blood cell requirements, and 24 hr postoperative opioid consumption., Results: Two hundred participants were analyzed (101 control; 99 pre-warmed). Pre-warmed participants had a lower median [interquartile range] magnitude of hypothermia than controls (0.00 [0.00-0.12] °C·hr -1 vs 0.05 [0.00-0.36] °C·hr -1 , respectively; median difference, -0.01°C·hr -1 ; 95% confidence interval, -0.04 to 0.00°C·hr -1 ; P = 0.005). There were no between-group differences in the secondary outcomes., Conclusion: A minimum of 30 min of preoperative forced-air convective warming decreased the overall intraoperative hypothermic exposure. While redistribution hypothermia still occurs despite pre- and intraoperative forced-air warming, their combined application results in greater preservation of intraoperative normothermia compared with intraoperative forced-air warming alone., Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02177903). Registered 25 June 2014.

Background: Respiratory depression in children receiving postoperative opioid infusions is a significant risk because of the interindividual variability in analgesic requirement. Detection of respiratory depression (or apnea) in these children may be improved with the introduction of automated acoustic respiratory rate (RR) monitoring. However, early detection of adverse events must be balanced with the risk of alarm fatigue. Our objective was to evaluate the use of acoustic RR monitoring in children receiving opioid infusions on a postsurgical ward and identify the causes of false alarm and optimal alarm thresholds., Methods: A video ethnographic study was performed using an observational, mixed methods approach. After surgery, an acoustic RR sensor was placed on the participant's neck and attached to a Rad87 monitor. The monitor was networked with paging for alarms. Vital signs data and paging notification logs were obtained from the central monitoring system. Webcam videos of the participant, infusion pump, and Rad87 monitor were recorded, stored on a secure server, and subsequently analyzed by 2 research nurses to identify the cause of the alarm, response, and effectiveness. Alarms occurring within a 90-second window were grouped into a single-alarm response opportunity., Results: Data from 49 patients (30 females) with median age 14 (range, 4.4-18.8) years were analyzed. The 896 bedside vital sign threshold alarms resulted in 160 alarm response opportunities (44 low RR, 74 high RR, and 42 low SpO2). In 141 periods (88% of total), for which video was available, 65% of alarms were deemed effective (followed by an alarm-related action within 10 minutes). Nurses were the sole responders in 55% of effective alarms and the patient or parent in 20%. Episodes of desaturation (SpO2 < 90%) were observed in 9 patients: At the time of the SpO2 paging trigger, the RR was >10 bpm in 6 of 9 patients. Based on all RR samples observed, the default alarm thresholds, to serve as a starting point for each patient, would be a low RR of 6 (>10 years of age) and 10 (4-9 years of age)., Conclusions: In this study, the use of RR monitoring did not improve the detection of respiratory depression. An RR threshold, which would have been predictive of desaturations, would have resulted in an unacceptably high false alarm rate. Future research using a combination of variables (e.g., SpO2 and RR), or the measurement of tidal volumes, may be needed to improve patient safety in the postoperative ward.

Background: Pediatric hospital mortality from infectious diseases in resource constrained countries remains unacceptably high. Improved methods of risk-stratification can assist in referral decision making and resource allocation. The purpose of this study was to create prediction models for in-hospital mortality among children admitted with suspected infectious diseases., Methods: This two-site prospective observational study enrolled children between 6 months and 5 years admitted with a proven or suspected infection. Baseline clinical and laboratory variables were collected on enrolled children. The primary outcome was death during admission. Stepwise logistic regression minimizing Akaike's information criterion was used to identify the most promising multivariate models. The final model was chosen based on parsimony., Results: 1307 children were enrolled consecutively, and 65 (5%) of whom died during their admission. Malaria, pneumonia and gastroenteritis were diagnosed in 50%, 31% and 8% of children, respectively. The primary model included an abnormal Blantyre coma scale, HIV and weight-for-age z-score. This model had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.80-0.89) with a sensitivity and specificity of 83% and 76%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 15% and 99%, respectively. Two alternate models with similar performance characteristics were developed withholding HIV and weight-for-age z-score, for use when these variables are not available., Conclusions: Risk stratification of children admitted with infectious diseases can be calculated based on several easily measured variables. Risk stratification at admission can be used for allocation of scarce human and physical resources and to guide referral among children admitted to lower level health facilities.