# Development of a risk predictive score for intraoperative hypothermia in pediatric patients: A retrospective cohort study

## TL;DR

This study identifies risk factors for hypothermia in children during surgery and creates a predictive score to help prevent it.

## Contribution

A novel risk predictive score for intraoperative hypothermia in pediatric patients was developed and validated.

## Key findings

- 17.34% and 3.62% of patients experienced very mild and mild intraoperative hypothermia, respectively.
- ASA physical status >3, prolonged anesthetic time, and lack of active warming were significant risk factors.
- The predictive score for mild hypothermia had a sensitivity of 85.9% and an AUC of 0.78.

## Abstract

This study aims to identify the risk factors and develop a risk predictive score of intraoperative hypothermia in pediatric surgery.

This was a retrospective cohort study of children under the age of 12 years who underwent anesthesia in 2020 at a super-tertiary care hospital, Thailand. Those with one episode of body temperature 32−35°C or 35.1–35.9°C were defined as having mild and very mild hypothermia, respectively. Data, including patient demographics, clinical information, and perioperative data, were extracted from the hospital information system and were analyzed to identify potential risk factors of hypothermia. The variables associated with intraoperative hypothermia at a p-value <0.2 then were included in the multinomial logistic regression analysis between the two outcomes (mild and very mild hypothermia) (relative risk ratio [RRR] and 95% confidence interval [CI]). The predictors of mild hypothermia were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis where the association of each risk factor was presented as an odd ratio (OR) and 95% CI.

Among the 940 eligible patients, 163 (17.34%) and 34 (3.62%) experienced intraoperative very mild and mild hypothermia, respectively. On multivariate analysis, intraoperative very mild hypothermia was associated with ASA physical status >3 (RRR: 6.4[2.9, 14.5]), anesthetic time >2 hours (RRR: 2.6[1.8, 3.8]), and major operation (RRR: 2.0[1.2, 3.4]) whereas intraoperative mild hypothermia was associated with ASA physical status >3 (adj OR: 8.01 [3.13, 20.5]), preoperative temperature >37.2°C (adj OR:3.3[1.5, 7.4]), anesthetic time >2 hours (adj OR:3.1[1.3, 7.4]), and no active warming (adj OR:9.3[2.9, 29.8]). A risk predictive score of mild hypothermia using a cut-point of 1.0 had a sensitivity and specificity of 85.9% and 52.53% respectively, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78.

Application of forced-warming after prolonged anesthesia, especially in high morbidity child, can reduce the risk of intraoperative hypothermia during pediatric surgery.