Bair Hugger Warming Blankets FAQ

Doctors use these systems before, during, and after surgery to keep the patient's body temperature steady and within a safe range.

When a patient is under anesthesia, his or her body can cool too much, creating complications. By maintaining steady body temperature, the doctor can reduce swelling and bleeding. It can also shorten a patient's recovery time after the surgery. Bair Hugger Warming blankets can improve a patient's outcome by a significant amount.

These blankets use a hybrid design that allows forced heated air to be blown into a plastic blanket. The plastic blanket provides the patient with a warm covering that helps him or her keep his body temperature within a safe range. There are two components of Bair Hugger Warming blankets, a reusable part, and a disposable part.

There have been more and more problems with warming blankets lately. These devices are known to cause infections that can invade at the surgical site. Some people believe that the hygienic ventilation system can spread contamination by kicking contaminated dust and tiny particles in the room. These particles can hover over the open incision of the patient.

When a surgeon opens up the knee or hip area during a procedure, bacteria can land inside the site of the surgery. After the surgeon closes the surgical site, the harmful bacteria can begin settling and thriving. Common infections include Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, sepsis, and staph infections. All of these infections are resistant to antibiotics.

Have you discovered that you have a serious infection after your surgery? It might be possible that you developed the infection from the warming blanket used in your surgery. Infections can quickly spread and become difficult to combat. Medical treatment for serious joint infections usually includes the following:

• Perform a surgical procedure that will diffuse the implanted joint that has just been placed
• Removing the newly implanted joint device
• Make a patient undergo several different surgeries in order to revise the artificial joint device
• In severe cases of infection, the doctor might need to amputate the infected limb above the infection site
• If the patient is not a good candidate for replacing a joint, then doctors might choose to treat the infection with long-term antibiotics.
• When a patient becomes sepsis, it is possible that he or she will die from the infection

Infections often show various symptoms on the outside of the skin that can include redness, tenderness, swelling, and delayed healing. If you have suffered an infection after your surgery, you might feel the following types of symptoms:

• Swelling
• Fatigue
• Stiffness
• Severe pain
• Night sweats
• Drainage of the infected wound site
• Chills
• Fever

In extreme cases, Bair Hugger Warming Blankets can cause infections that are so severe that the patient needs an amputation of a limb for survival. In many cases, when a hip becomes severely infected, surgeons need to remove the leg and hip joint. When an incurable and life-threatening knee infection happens, surgeons must remove the lower leg and the knee joint.