Core temperature monitoring during cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia: a quality improvement descriptive study.

Overview

Aim: To analyze intraoperative temperature change over time following spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery using temperature enabled Foley catheters. Materials & methods: 512 records of women who underwent scheduled cesarean deliveries were retrospectively identified from January 1, 2018 through September 9, 2018 using our anesthesia information management system. Results: Median minimum temperature at min 1 following foley insertion was 35.24°C (interquartile range: 1.43), with an average of 12 minutes until temperature equilibration at median maximum temperature of 36.54°C (interquartile range 0.39). Temperature dropped to a nadir of 35.9°C at the 45 min mark, reflecting an average 0.64°C decline in temperature. Conclusion: Bladder temperature is a useful surrogate for core temperature and offers a practical solution to continuous temperature monitoring in awake patients.