<![CDATA[Background: Maintaining body temperature stability during surgery is a vital component of perioperative care because perioperative hypothermia adversely affects clinical outcomes and recovery. Owing to their higher body surface area-to-mass ratio and limited thermoregulatory capacity, pediatric patients are especially vulnerable to perioperative temperature loss. This study aimed to identify the determinants of intraoperative hypothermia among pediatric patients undergoing surgery.Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled pediatric patients undergoing surgery. Recorded patient characteristics included age, sex, height, nutritional status, physical (ASA) status, surgical division, type of procedure, and fasting duration. Intraoperative temperature was monitored via a tympanic probe (same ear), with hypothermia defined as tympanic temperature < 36 °C. Associations were tested using the chi-square test, independent-samples t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test; variables with p < 0.05 on bivariate analysis were entered into multivariable logistic regression (significance level α = 0.05).Result: Of the 100 enrolled pediatric patients, 74 (74%) remained normothermic and 26 (26%) developed intraoperative hypothermia. On bivariate analysis, height, nutritional status, surgical division, type of surgery, duration of anesthesia, and intraoperative bleeding were significantly associated with hypothermia. On multivariable analysis, height, nutritional status, type of surgery, and surgical division remained independent determinants of intraoperative hypothermia, whereas duration of anesthesia and intraoperative bleeding were no longer statistically significant in the final model (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Lower nutritional status, greater height, type of surgery, and surgical division independently predicted intraoperative hypothermia in pediatric surgical patients. These factors can support preoperative risk stratification and targeted intraoperative warming strategies.]]>
