Patient Warming Systems

Case Synopsis

A 76-year-old man is brought to the operating room emergently for open repair of a right ileac artery injury. The patient is placed on an under-body blanket that is connected to a properly functioning forced-air warming system, and the unit is turned on to the maximum setting (43°C). Postoperatively, the patient is noted to have partial- and full-thickness burns to the posteromedial aspect of the right leg.