Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between postoperative delirium (POD) and unplanned perioperative hypothermia (UPH) among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery. Design: A retrospective, exploratory design was used. Methods: A retrospective, exploratory study was conducted using electronic medical record data abstracted from a purposive convenience sample of adult patients undergoing noncardiac surgery from January 2014 to June 2017. Findings: The analyzed data set included 22,548 surgeries, of which 9% experienced POD. Logistic regression indicated that American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class was the strongest predictor of POD (χ2 = 1,207.11, df = 4, inclusive of all ASA class terms). A significant relationship between UPH and POD (χ2 = 54.94, df = 4, inclusive of all UPH terms) and a complex relationship among UPH, patient age, ASA class, and POD were also found. Conclusions: Results support a relationship between UPH and POD. Notably, there is also a complex relationship in the noncardiac surgery population among UPH, age, ASA class, and POD. Preliminary understanding of this relationship is based on the pathophysiological response to surgical stress. Further research is indicated.

Bakgrund: 46-77% av alla patienter drabbas av en mild hypotermi någon gång i det perioperativa förloppet. En av punkterna på WHOs checklista för säker kirurgi är hypotermi och huruvida patienten lider risk att drabbas av hypotermi och vilka åtgärder som ska tas för att förhindra det. Det finns flertalet komplikationer patienten kan drabbas av vid intraoperativ hypotermi och operationssjuksköterskan arbetar för att förhindra det. Motiv: Det finns mycket forskning om vad som händer med patienten vid oplanerad intraoperativ hypotermi och hur det bör förebyggas. Men det finns inte lika mycket forskning om operationssjuksköterskors erfarenhet i området. Motivet var därför att medvetande göra hur operationssjuksköterskan arbetar med intraoperativ hypotermi. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva operationssjuksköterskors erfarenheter av oplanerad intraoperativ hypotermi hos vuxna patienter, konsekvenser av det samt sätt att förebygga detta.  Metod: Studien var en empirisk kvalitativ studie där åtta specialistsjuksköterskor inom operationssjukvård från en operationsavdelning i södra Sverige blev intervjuade. Innehållsanalysen till studien var inspirerad av Graneheim och Lundmans innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet i studien baseras på tre kategorier med åtta underkategorier. Kategorierna presenteras som Samarbete mellan yrkeskategorier nödvändigt, Konsekvenser av hypotermi, Hypotermi och omvårdnadsåtgärder Konklusion: Operationsteamets erfarenheter och de utsatta normerna på avdelningen styr det förebyggande arbetet mot intraoperativ hypotermi. Mycket av ansvaret verkar ligga på anestesisjuksköterskorna. Samarbete mellan dem olika personalkategorierna i teamet är viktigt. Operationssjuksköterskor upplever oro och stress för att inte tillräckligt förebygga hypotermi och orsaka patienten onödigt lidande. / Background: 46-77% of all patients experience a mild hypothermia at some point in the perioperative course. One of the items on the WHO's checklist for safe surgery is hypothermia and whether the patient is at risk of developing hypothermia and what measures should be taken to prevent it. There are several complications the patient may experience with intraoperative hypothermia and the theater nurse works to prevent it. Motive: There is a lot of research on what happens to the patient in unplanned intraoperative hypothermia and how it could be prevented. But there is not as much research on the surgical nurse's experience in the area. The motive was therefore to disclose how the surgical nurse works with intraoperative hypothermia. Aim: The aim of the study is to describe theater nurse’s experience of unplanned intraoperative hypothermia in adult patients, consequences of it and ways to prevent it Methods: The study was an empirical qualitative interview study in which eight theater nurses from a surgical department in southern Sweden. The analysis was performed using qualitative content analysis inspired by Graneheim and Lundman Result: The results of the study are based on three categories with eight subcategories. The categories are presented as Teamwork necessary, Consequences of hypothermia, Hypothermia and Nursing measures    Conclusion: Surgical team’s experience and the norms in the department guide the preventive work against intraoperative hypothermia. Much of the responsibility seems to lie on the anesthesia nurses. Teamwork between the different team professions is important. Theater nurses experience some anxiety and stress that their preventive measures are not sufficient and contributes to unnecessary patient suffering.