A woman who developed a severe infection after a hip replacement surgery filed a lawsuit claiming the Bair Hugger, a forced-air surgical warming blanket, was defective and caused her open surgical wound to be exposed to contaminants during surgery.

Plaintiff Constance G. of Newhall, California underwent hip replacement surgery in March 2011. She developed a gram negative bacterium infection that required her to take antibiotics for 18 months, and to undergo surgery to remove the implant and clean the infected area.

Constance alleges in her Bair Hugger lawsuit that she continues to suffer from impaired mobility, has difficulty walking, and will need to take antibiotics for the rest of her life.

Constance says her infection was caused by the Bair Hugger, a device that forces air into a disposable blanket that is draped over a patient during surgery. Her Bair Hugger lawsuit claims the device can blow bacteria-tainted air directly onto a patient. The blower itself could also become contaminated with bacteria, leading to an infection.

The Bair Hugger lawsuit further alleges that 3M attempted to conceal their knowledge of the device’s unreasonably dangerous risks.

What is the Bair Hugger?

The Bair Hugger is 3M’s version of a forced hot air warming blanket. The purpose of the device is to help maintain a patient’s body temperature during surgery, which has proven to lessen bleeding, speed recovery time, and provide other benefits.

For this reason, forced air warming systems are often used during hip or knee replacement surgery to help maintain a patient’s core body temperature as close to normal as possible.

3M’s Bair Hugger works like a forced-air heater, pushing warm air through a flexible hose into a blanket draped over a patient. To work as intended, the device discharges warm air over a patient’s body, but also releases air under the surgical table.

The air discharged under the table can cause germs and bacteria to become dispersed and recirculated, landing on a patient’s surgical site.

The procedure of recirculating contaminated air over an open surgical wound can result in an infection deep in the patient’s joint, such as sepsis and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA). Unfortunately, these hospital infections are very difficult to treat.

Bair Hugger Lawsuits

Even the inventor of the Bair Hugger warming system, Dr. Scott Augustine, has publicly voiced his concern that the device could be dangerous because the forced air can spread bacteria associated with hospital infections.

A 2012 study, “Do forced air patient-warming devices disrupt unidirectional downward airflow?” (Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery) and two 2013 studies — “Forced-air patient warming blankets disrupt unidirectional flow” (Bone & Joint Journal) and “Patient Warming Excess Heat: The Effects on Orthopedic Operating Room Ventilation Performance” (Anesthesia & Analgesia) — found forced-air warming significantly increased the number of airborne particles over the surgical cite. The studies did not conclude the additional particles carried bacteria, but they found the increased particles a cause for concern. 

A number of Bair Hugger lawsuits have been filed against 3M alleging that the heat generated by the device can redirect air circulation during surgery.

The Bair Hugger Lawsuit is Case No. 0:0215cv03328, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.