As the insufflation of dry gas into the peritoneal cavity has been suggested to induce heat loss, the long lasting pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic procedures may cause hypothermia. This study is aimed to investigate the effect of gas insufflation on the hypothermia during laparoscopic surgery.

Forty male patients scheduled for abdominal surgery (20 patients for open laparotomy, and 20 patients for laparoscopic surgery) were included in the study. The changes of esophageal temperature were measured for 3 hours of operations and compared between the groups. The amount of insufflated CO₂ gas was measured and the relationship between the amount of gas and the occurrence of hypothermia was analysed.

The esophageal temperature of open laparotomy patients were significantly lower after 120 min of operation time (P < 0.05). There was no relationship between the amount of gas and the occurrence of hypothermia (P = 0.21).

With longer operations, laparoscopic surgery has the advantage less core temperature loss, but there was no relationship between the amount of gas and the occurrence of hypothermia.