To explore the effect of perioperative heat preservation measures during inguinal hernia surgery in the elderly.

From May 2017 to June 2020, a total of 60 elderly patients with inguinal hernia who underwent open tension-free repair surgery at the Second People's Hospital of Anhui Province were analyzed. Thirty patients who received routine care intervention during the perioperative period served as the control group, and 30 patients who received routine care intervention combined with intraoperative heat preservation as the observation group. The operation status of the two groups of patients (anesthesia time, operation time, blood loss, fluid infusion), intraoperative body temperature, the concentration of inflammatory factors [interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP)], postoperative recovery (time to get out of bed, time to recover bowel sounds, first eating time, bowel sound recovery time, length of hospital stay), and postoperative complications were observed.

The differences in anesthesia time, operation time, blood loss, fluid infusion volume, preoperative body temperature and body temperature at 5 minutes after starting operation between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). There were significant differences in body temperature between the two groups at 30 minutes after starting operation and at the end of operation (P<0.05). On the 3rd postoperative day, IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP in the two groups were significantly increased, and the IL-6, TNF-α, and CRP in the observation group were lower than those in the control group on the 3rd postoperative day (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the time of getting out of bed and length of stay in the two groups of patients (P>0.05). The recovery time of bowel sounds in the observation group were shorter than that in the control group (P<0.05). The difference in postoperative complications data between the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05).

For elderly patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, conventional nursing measures combined with heat preservation measuresduring the operation is beneficial to maintain body temperature, can promote postoperative recovery and reduce the risk of complications.