RT Journal
A1 SHAW A, ASBURY J
T1 A constant supply of warm irrigating solution at the operating table
JF Archives of Surgery
JO Archives of Surgery
YR 1979
FD November 1
VO 114
IS 11
SP 1345
OP 1345
DO 10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370350147019
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370350147019
AB To the Editor.—Saline solution for wound irrigation, traditionally kept by the scrub nurse in a stainless steel bowl adjacent to the operative field, cools rapidly, creating a threat of hypothermia if used in the wounds or body cavities of infants and small children. Operations are often slowed while the circulating nurse is dispatched to the warming cabinet next door to fetch the stock bottle from which the table-side supply of irrigating solution is replenished. Operating time is further prolonged as hot saline solution is mixed with cool and repeatedly tested until a desirable temperature is achieved.We have devised a simple, inexpensive system composed of readily obtainable, inexpensive components, consisting of an adjustable heat source, gas-sterilizable transparent styrene bucket, and sterilizable thermometer. The thermal plate in which the bucket is set is clamp-mounted on a corner leg of the instrument stand, assuring the surgeon of an adequate, immediately available