Temperature Changes during General Anesthesia

Temperature changes during general anesthesia were studied in relation to age, the duration and type of operative procedure(gastrectomy versus tympanoplasty) and the type of anesthetic (halothane versus enflurane) in 41 patients undergoing surgery in our centrally air-conditioned operating room. Body temperatures were recorded every 15 minutes after intubation by measuring the esophageal temperature in adults and the nasopharyngeal temperature in children. A comparison of temperature changes between adults and children showed a significant temperature decrease in adults during general anesthesia(-0.6℃, p