Preoperative carbohydrate loading to maintain normothermia in children under anaesthesia : A prospective randomised controlled trial

Anaesthesia and surgery hamper the intrinsic mechanisms of thermoregulation, thus leading to unavoidable hypothermia. Maintenance of  normothermia is therefore of paramount importance. In patients undergoing elective caesarean section under neuraxial anaesthesia, oral carbohydrate loading has been shown to reduce incidence of shivering and is conducive to maintenance of normothermia. The proposed randomised controlled study will be conducted in ASA 1 and 2 children, 2-10 yrs old. Children would be randomly allocated to one of the two study groups using computer generated random number table –Oral carbohydrate (OC), Oral placebo (OP) group. The incidence of hypothermia, shivering and temperature difference between 2 groups will be noted.