Problems with textile materials for operations

Abstract

Patients undergoing surgery are often at risk of hypothermia. The result is postoperative coldness and shivering, which are not only part of the unpleasant memories of surgery and narcosis, but also pose a health hazard for heart and lung patients. When shivering, for example, the oxygen consumption of the heart can increase several times. If severe hypothermia of the patient has occurred, artificial respiration is often intervened, treatment is performed in the intensive care unit, and the basic prerequisites for overcoming the consequences of the disease worsen. The causes of hypothermia are, in addition to cold operating table surfaces, thin shirts and drafts, but above all insufficient coverage in the operating room [1]. That is why new solutions from textile creators, for example from TITV Greiz (Textile Research Institute Thüringen-Vogtland, Germany) are recommended. They developed design guidelines for the development of specific operative textile materials that reduce the cold burden of patients. At the same time, TITV Greiz collaborated in a research project (AiF 13368 BG/1) with the Hohenstein Clothing Physiological Institute (BPI) and the Ludwigsburg-Bietigheim Clinic.