Bair Hugger Lawsuit

Bair Hugger Lawsuit

When undergoing surgery, our bodies are put into a sleep like state and the area undergoing repair is opened – releasing heat from our bodies. To combat this rapid loss of body heat surgeons often employ the use of a device called a Bair Hugger. Originally designed to help maintain a patient’s body temperature while under anesthesia, the unit’s purpose was to reduce bleeding, improve recovery times and in turn minimize the risk of infections. However, critics believe that the unit may be doing the complete opposite, and compromising the surgical site.

The Bair Hugger is a small unit near the operating table. A large hose from the unit connects to a disposable ‘blanket’ that is draped over the non-sterile portion of the patient and passes warmed air over their body in an effort to maintain a normal body temperature. Concerns have risen that unit is mobilizing bacteria either on the floor of the surgical suite or bacteria that normally lives on our skin. Sitting over a non-sterilized portion, the warm air moves the bacteria and contaminates sterilized surgical sites – sometimes deep into joints or heart valves; some of the most difficult areas to treat infection. While our immune systems were designed to tackle bacteria within our body, infections that settle into artificial joints made of plastic or metal enable the bacteria to create a film on the implant which acts as a shield against our body’s natural defenses and allows the bacteria to become resistant to antibiotic therapies.

It is estimated that Bair Hugger system are employed in 80% of U.S. hospitals and has been utilized more than 160 million times. About 1% of hip or knee replacement patients develop a deep joint infection. This serious complication may require treatment with multiple surgeries to replace the implant, wash out the joint and tissues, joint fusion and the administration of intravenous antibiotics. Treatment aside, recovery is often severely delayed and extremely painful and infections may result in disability, amputation or even death.

Current lawsuits allege that the Bair Hugger system can increase a patient’s risk of developing MRSA, sepsis and other serious infections. In addition, manufacturers are accused of being aware of the heightened risk but failed to properly warn patients and doctors or redesign the machine in an effort to make it safer. In fact, the lawsuit states the manufacturers attempted to hide and discredit any scientific research that found an increased risk of hip and knee infections with the use of the machines. Even the creator of one of the warming blankets, Dr. Scott Augustine, has expressed his concern that the device is a danger to surgical patients because the forced air can spread bacteria associated with infections. Additionally, research published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found that air circulated by a forced hot air warming blanket system contained 2,000 times more contaminants when compared to air circulated by a similar device.

As of this time, there has not been a recall of the surgical warming blankets, including Bair Hugger, related to deep joint infections. However, the investigation into this device, from a legal standpoint, is still at its early stages.

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