Efficacy of Sunstate to Prevent a Decrease in Body Temperature during Emergency Coil Embolization under General Anesthesia for Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms

Abstract

Objective: Prevention of heat loss under general anesthesia is important for the prevention of systemic complications. However, in our experience, body temperature sometimes decreases during coil embolization for ruptured intracerebral aneurysms. Hence, we started using a cloth sheet with a thin aluminum film (Sunstate) to cover patients during the procedure and retrospectively evaluated whether it helps prevent a decrease in body temperature during endovascular surgery.

Methods: Of the 50 patients who underwent emergency coil embolization under general anesthesia from May 2017 to June 2018, 17 patients were excluded due to cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival, high fever of 38.0°C or more before entering the procedure room, and treatment delay of more than 24 hours after presentation, and the remaining 33 patients were evaluated in this study. After dividing patients into two groups, before (group A) and after (group B) introduction of Sunstate, we retrospectively compared body temperature at the time of entering and leaving the angiography room, procedural time, and body mass index (BMI) between them.

Results: Fourteen patients were included in group A and 19 in group B. Age (58.4 years old vs. 57.8 years old), gender (female: 78.6% vs. 63.2%), BMI (22.6 kg/m² vs. 23.2 kg/m²), body temperature at entry (35.3°C vs. 35.5°C), and procedural time (169 minutes vs. 190 minutes) were not significantly different between groups A and B, respectively. Body temperature at the time of leaving the angiography room was significantly higher in group B than in group A (35.5°C vs. 36.1°C, p=0.04), and the number of patients in whom temperature decreased after treatment was significantly lower in group B than in group A (43% vs. 5%, p=0.03).

Conclusion: With Sunstate, it was possible to prevent a decrease in body temperature during coil embolization for ruptured aneurysms under general anesthesia. This suggests that use of the covering sheet is useful for preventing a decrease in body temperature during endovascular treatment.