Does the QED-100 work with a hypothermic patient?
Hypothermia can be defined for any patient in which the core body temperature drops below 36C. Beyond that, hypothermia is defined into three broad classes. Mild hypothermia would be a core body temperature between 35.5-35.9C. Moderate hypothermia would be a core body temperature between 35-35.4C. Severe hypothermia would be a core body temperature <35C. So, in answer to the question, for patients who are hypothermic (<36C), the QED-100 has been shown to speed emergence. It should be noted that decreases in core body temperature do increase the time it takes for patients to emerge from anesthesia. Studies have not been done to evaluate the impact the QED-100 has on decreasing emergence time with respect to hypothermic patients.
