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The 3M Bair Hugger is a forced air warming blanket that helps maintain patients’ normal body temperatures during hip and knee replacement surgeries. The system works by forcing warm air through a hose into a special blanket that is draped over the patient.
The Bair Hugger is produced by 3M and is used in 80 percent of hospitals in the United States. More than 165 million patients have been exposed to this device since its invention in the late 1990s.
Patients treated with the 3M Bair Hugger warming blanket may be exposed to contaminated air from the operating room. The system allows warm air to accumulate and escape below the surgical table and can cause contaminants, such as bacteria, to become airborne. It can also create a current that deposits bacteria from the operating floor back into the blanket and the surgical site.
During surgery, the warm air passes over the patient’s skin, escapes from the sides of the warming blanket, dips into the dirty air near the floor and then rises, along with any bacteria it might be carrying into the surgical site.
As a result, patients have a greater risk of developing a post-surgical infection such as MRSA, sepsis or deep joint infections.
In addition to post-surgical infections, such as MRSA, sepsis and deep joint infections, other complications can include:
Langdon & Emison will review your potential 3M Bair Hugger case at no cost or obligation to you. If you or someone you know experienced any complications after surgery, contact Langdon & Emison at 866-931-2115 or complete an online form.
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