# cold operating room? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332 "2011-06-13T17:25:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/1 "2011-06-13T17:25:09Z")
I was just thinking back to some surgery I had several years ago, and I realized that I never asked the burning question I had at the time - why was the OR so damn cold? Now that I think about it, the room where I had my cardiac angiogram was cold also, enough that I needed a blanket. So what’s the reason for the freezing temperatures? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/2 "2011-06-13T17:35:18Z")
For the comfort of the surgeon and staff, who invariably are wearing more than the patient. And because a doctor dripping sweat into your open wounds wouldn’t be very sterile. > **[Find out the Reason Why Operating Rooms Are So Cold](https://www.verywellhealth.com/are-operating-rooms-cold-to-prevent-infection-2549274)** > > It is commonly thought that cold operating rooms help prevent infection but it is actually kept cool in the OR to keep the surgeons comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/3 "2011-06-13T17:36:58Z")
I’d say it was because the people working on you are gloved, gowned, and wearing head coverings while doing physical work under bright lights. I’d like the air conditioned to a fare-thee-well myself for that. ETA: What she said. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/4 "2011-06-13T17:39:30Z")
Could it also be related to the mechanism of the body to slow heart rate and metaboilsm when it’s colder? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/5 "2011-06-13T17:40:55Z")
Aren’t most people unconscious in the OR? Why would blankets be an issue? ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/6 "2011-06-13T17:53:34Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Aren’t most people unconscious in the OR? Why would blankets be an issue? No, the blankets were an issue when I had an angiogram. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/7 "2011-06-13T18:32:48Z")
I vaugly recall a bit on NPR about docs in Iraq finding that trama patients did better in cold ORs, and that observation spreading back in the States as the army doctors returned and went to work in civilian hospitals. Sorry for the vague cite, but hopefully someone will be along whose more familiar with the story. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/8 "2011-06-13T18:39:12Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > No, the blankets were an issue when I had an angiogram. When I had mine, they asked if I was cold. And when I said yes, they brought not just blankets but heated blankets. I appreciated that. I imagine that laying on a metal table doesn’t help warm a patient up, nor do the gowns. Even in a normally heated room, that would leave me chilly. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/9 "2011-06-13T19:12:47Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I vaugly recall a bit on NPR about docs in Iraq finding that trama patients did better in cold ORs, and that observation spreading back in the States as the army doctors returned and went to work in civilian hospitals. > > Sorry for the vague cite, but hopefully someone will be along whose more familiar with the story. If it was this [article](http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=16&ved=0CDwQFjAFOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dtic.mil%2Fcgi-bin%2FGetTRDoc%3FLocation%3DU2%26doc%3DGetTRDoc.pdf%26AD%3DADA480443&rct=j&q=hypothermia%20trauma%20patient&ei=2172TaHABKzZiALzw5yBBw&usg=AFQjCNHtX5syq7Y9nPH0oUeZHqTM11XpdQ&cad=rja)(pdf) “The impact of hypothermia on trauma care at the 31st combat support hospital”, then the conclusion was in fact the exact opposite. > [@](#): > > Hypothermic patients had higher blood loss in the operative theater, as well as required higher packed red blood cell, whole red blood cell, and fresh frozen plasma transfusions (Table 2). Operative times were longer for the mild and moderately-severe hypothermia groups. Factor VIIa use also correlated with hypothermia. ISS had the highest correlation of all variables. The hypothermic patients spent more days in the ICU, and their overall mortality was significantly higher than normothermic patients. Here is a an [article](http://www.coolshirt.net/joint-commission.html) about another study on infection and cold temperatures in the operating room: > [@](#): > > Doctors used to think mild hypothermia was actually good for the patient because cold retards the growth of bacteria in the air. But according to a new study, the cold temperatures in operating rooms actually triple the risk of infection. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Aren’t most people unconscious in the OR? Why would blankets be an issue? Blankets are an issue because mild or moderate hypothermia is a problem and can lead to increased recovery time for patients, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/10 "2011-06-13T20:03:56Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > When I had mine, they asked if I was cold. And when I said yes, they brought not just blankets but heated blankets. I appreciated that. I imagine that laying on a metal table doesn’t help warm a patient up, nor do the gowns. Even in a normally heated room, that would leave me chilly. It seems that patient comfort is becoming more of an issue. Blankets are heated, and so is the lube for some procedures. As for the OP, I’m going to chime in with the “medical personnel are wearing more clothes, and sweat is not sterile” group. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/11 "2011-06-13T20:10:05Z")
**Implicit** , I think your right. I misremembered the story, the innovation in Iraq was towards warmer ORs. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/12 "2011-06-14T12:21:30Z")
I believe it’s an effect of the anesthesia. Every time my wife has gone for anesthesia, she’s felt cold. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/13 "2011-06-14T13:57:33Z")
I only have to venture into ORs to refill the anesthesia drug dispensing machines, but they do always seem at least a few degrees colder. Ours are also positive air-pressure, which may be SOP everywhere, but it may account for more HVAC air being directed into that room? FWIW, the clean room that we work on IVs in is also somewhat cooler. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/14 "2011-06-14T16:30:42Z")
It’s an infection control issue. [http://www.trane.com/HealthCare/pdfs/Surgical\_Suite.pdf](http://www.trane.com/HealthCare/pdfs/Surgical_Suite.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-operating-room/585332/15 "2011-06-14T20:40:00Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I vaugly recall a bit on NPR about docs in Iraq finding that trama patients did better in cold ORs, and that observation spreading back in the States as the army doctors returned and went to work in civilian hospitals. > > Sorry for the vague cite, but hopefully someone will be along whose more familiar with the story. Besides the fact that as mentioned in other messages the opposite was found, I’ve been in ORs long before Iraq. I’ve always found them quite cold. > [@Yllaria](#): > > When I had mine, they asked if I was cold. And when I said yes, they brought not just blankets but heated blankets. I appreciated that. I imagine that laying on a metal table doesn’t help warm a patient up, nor do the gowns. Even in a normally heated room, that would leave me chilly. Same with me. > [@AaronX](#): > > I believe it’s an effect of the anesthesia. Every time my wife has gone for anesthesia, she’s felt cold. Not for me; I’m cold before they ever put any drugs in me.