According to Jonathan V. Roth, M.D., anesthesiologists may be capable of reducing the incidence of hypothermia in patients aged 18-55 to 16 percent, and to 28 percent in patients over 55 by utilizing a different induction technique.

Jonathan V. Roth, M.D.

That technique, which he will discuss in a poster discussion session on Sunday afternoon, involves altering the traditional and widespread induction technique of intravenous propofol. Dr. Roth, an anesthesiologist at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, is advocating instead for inhalational induction with sevoflurane.

Titled “Induction Techniques That Can Reduce Redistribution Hypothermia,” the poster discussion will examine the effects on intraoperative hypothermia, which has been shown to occur in two-thirds of patients, resulting in a core temperature drop below 36 degrees within the first hour of anesthesia.

The majority of previous research has focused on warming patients once they become cold, but Dr. Roth’s research presents a method to keep patients from getting cold in the first place.

“This could be a game-changer,” said Dr. Roth. “The implications are potentially less blood loss, fewer infections and better compliance with forthcoming regulations that might affect reimbursement.”