Haddad, I., Doucet, P., Lobozzo, J., Vadhera, A. Volume of Air Generated from HotlineⓇ Warmer – Plenty to Cause Serious Injury/Morbidity in Pediatrics. ClearLine MD. 2016.
To measure the volume of air released into patient IV lines during the process of fluid warming. The
intraoperative use of fluid warming devices has been recommended to avoid perioperative hypothermia and related adverse outcomes including infection. However, these devices may be introducing risks of their own in the form of air being introduced to the patient’s vasculature. We began the study following the protocol described in the Woone & Talke published in Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing. This study 1 measured the volume of air escaping from solution that may be delivered to a patient when using the HotlineR fluid warmer. To emulate a clinical setting, we added additional flow rates, fluid types and fluid temperatures. We specifically assessed any increase in air generated with a larger temperature differential.
