Hypothermia Risk, Monitoring and Environment Control in Operating Rooms

The air-conditioning systems in operating rooms must be able to ensure at the patients at the surgical team a high level of comfort indoor. There is many factors to consider and analyze in order to prevent the occurrence of problems such as hypothermia of the patient, the thermal discomfort for the medical team, and not least, pollution by anesthetic gases. The thermal comfort conditions within the operating rooms can be obtained by controlling microclimatic parameters such as: temperature, relative humidity and air velocity. In an environment maintained in the condition of health and thermal comfort are minimized risks related to the onset of post-operative complications. In this paper we present some studies reported in the literature on the methods used for environmental monitoring and control of operating rooms and HVAC systems; they are treated in the methodologies actually used to obtain a hospital environment in conditions of healthiness and thermal comfort. Are reported the result some simulations, obtained with the use of a model of the operating room in real scale, in them are analyzed ventilation rates suitable to obtain the chemical dilution of anesthetic gases and contaminants physical-biological. In the simulations we have determined the microclimatic parameters (air humidity and temperature) for prevent risks for patients such as hypothermia, and to ensure the comfort of the surgical team.