Effect of operating room nursing based on a multimodal hypothermia prevention strategy on perioperative patient recovery: a retrospective study

To evaluate the effect of operating room nursing based on a multimodal hypothermia prevention strategy on perioperative patient recovery. This retrospective study included adult patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia during July 2024-February 2026. Patients were divided into multimodal warming (preoperative prewarming, forced-air warming, warmed fluids, ambient temperature control) or conventional warming (passive insulation) groups. The primary outcome was the incidence of perioperative hypothermia (PH). Secondary outcomes included emergence time, post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) length of stay, Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) score, blood loss, hospital stay, and complications. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with PH. A total of 142 patients were included (74 in the conventional group, 68 in the multimodal group). The multimodal warming group had a lower incidence of PH than the conventional warming group (13.24% vs. 32.43%, P = 0.007) and higher lowest intraoperative, end-of-surgery, and PACU admission temperatures (all P < 0.05). The multimodal warming group also had shorter emergence time and PACU length of stay (both P < 0.001), a higher PACU discharge temperature ( P = 0.005), lower intraoperative blood loss ( P = 0.003), a shorter hospital stay ( P < 0.001), and a higher total QoR-15 score ( P < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, multimodal warming was independently associated with lower odds of PH (OR = 0.308, 95% CI: 0.124–0.766, P = 0.011). A multimodal nursing strategy for hypothermia prevention was associated with a lower incidence of PH and more favorable anesthesia recovery and overall postoperative recovery outcomes. These findings suggest potential clinical value, although prospective studies are needed to confirm the observed associations.