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Comparing the effectiveness of two types of cooling blankets for febrile patients
Author(s) -
Loke Alice Y,
Chan Helen CL,
Chan Tony MF
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
nursing in critical care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.689
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1478-5153
pISSN - 1362-1017
DOI - 10.1111/j.1362-1017.2005.00133.x
Subject(s) - blanket , airflow , medicine , randomized controlled trial , anesthesia , surgery , materials science , mechanical engineering , engineering , composite material
A randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the effectiveness of airflow‐ and waterflow‐cooling blankets for febrile patients in intensive care unit. More patients in the airflow than in the waterflow‐cooling blanket group reached the desired temperature of <38°C at the end of 8 h (94·1 versus 60·0%, χ 2 = 2·86, P = 0·047). Patients in the airflow blanket group also took less time than those in the waterflow blanket group to achieve the desired temperature (3·1 and 5·7 h, respectively, U = 2·00, P < 0·001). These findings suggest that the airflow blanket is the cooling blanket of choice for febrile patients when external cooling is needed.