Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the time needed to reach a specified temperature and the efficiency of two warming methods-warm cotton blankets and a radiant warmer-for hypothermia patients in a postanesthetic care unit (PACU) after spinal surgery.Design: This study was conducted according to a quasi-experimental design. Data were collected from a medical referral center in northern Taiwan. A total of 130 post-spinal surgery patients with hypothermia were recruited in the study.Methods: Of the 130 patients in the PACU, 65 were warmed by the radiant warmer (group R); whereas the other 65 patients were warmed by warm cotton blankets (group B). Tympanic temperature was measured for each patient every 10 min until it reached 36°C in the PACU. Analysis of covariance and generalized estimating equation regression analysis were performed to compare the time needed to reach a specified temperature and the efficiency of the two wanning methods, respectively.Findings: Both groups were similar in their baseline chara cteristics. After adjusting for temperature upon arrival at the PACU, group R needed a significantly shorter time for rewarming to 36°C than group B (F [1, 125] = 58.17, p Conclusions: Using the radiant warmer may be a more efficient method than providing warm cotton blankets for wanning post-spinal surgery hypothermia patients in the PACU.Clinical Relevance: For hospitals that are unable to use forced-air warming to warm postsurgical hypothermia patients in the PACU, the radiant warmer is a more efficient device to rewarm patients.Key wordsHypothermia, postoperative, spinal surgery, warming methodSurgical patient hypothermia is a common phenomenon that may occur before, during, or after operations. Numerous preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative hypothermia-related research studies have been conducted since 1980. Studies have reponed that postoperative hypothermia, defined as having a core temperature of less than 36°C, occurs in 20% to 60% of all patients (Defina & Lincoln, 1998; Vaughan, Vaughan, & Cork, 1981). Spinal surgery involves a wide spectrum of procedures during which the spinal cord, nerve roots, and blood vessels are frequently at risk for injury (Gonzalez, Jeyanandarajan, Hansen, Zada, &* Hsieh, 2009). For patients undergoing spinal surgery, intraoperative active warming is difficult, since they are placed in the prone position, which allows only the legs to be covered with warming devices (Murat, Berniere, & Constant, 1994). The following questions thus arise: what can the clinical staff do to decrease this inadvertent hypothermia after spinal surgery, and which of the devices readily available in hospitals are the most effective for rewarming these patients in the PACU?Literature ReviewThermoregulatory MechanismsHumans are capable of maintaining homeostasis under fluctuating environmental conditions. For example, under normal circumstances, body temperature usually remains between 36.5°C and 37.5°C, with most changes being within I0C (Cooper, 2006). The center for regulation of body temperature is situated in the hypothalamus, which is responsible for the precise balancing of heat production and conservation, heat loss, and redistribution of heat via three major thermoregulatory mechanisms: vasoconstriction, shivering, and sweating (Wagner, 2006a). In surgical patients undergoing general or major regional anesthesia, hypothermia develops immediately after the induction of anesthesia because heat is redistributed from the center of the body to the periphery (Wagner, 2006b). …