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The number of hip arthroscopies has rapidly increased worldwide due to the new knowledge of intraarticular hip pathology. This procedure is successful with a low rate of complications but severe. One of the most important, from the anesthetic point of view, is hypothermia, carrying out a physiological response that could be dangerous for the patients. In hip arthroscopies, a warmed irrigation solution has been implemented as a simple, low-cost, and effective method for preventing hypothermia. There is limited literature on hip arthroscopy; therefore, much of the literature is focused on shoulder and knee arthroscopy.

This systematic review of the literature aims to analyze the current evidence of warmed irrigation solutions in hip, shoulder, and knee arthroscopy.

One reviewer searched the following databases: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library. Level I to level IV studies involving hip, shoulder, or knee arthroscopy were included. The results found in the databases were compared, duplicate records were eliminated, and the rest were reviewed for their inclusion by title and abstract. A full-text review of the manuscripts was performed to ensure that all relevant articles, as well as cross-referenced articles, were included.

Eight studies of patients undergoing arthroscopy were included in the qualitative synthesis (6 shoulder studies, 1 hip study, and 1 knee study; 526 patients). Warm irrigation fluid reduced the degree of core body temperature drop and the incidence of hypothermia in 6 studies (5 shoulder studies and 1 hip study).

In conclusion, warming irrigation fluids for shoulder and hip arthroscopy significantly decreased the risk of hypothermia, increased the lowest mean temperature, decreased the maximum temperature drop, and decreased the risk of shivering and hypothermia.