[UnFleshedOne]

I felt very cold waking up after surgery for lung collapse (as in, shivering uncontrollably, not really hypothermic I guess). I don't think they specifically lowered my temperature. Maybe that is a common effect of general anesthesia?

Those heated blankets they have in post-surgery rooms are very nice...

[sanotehu]

Shivering is a common side-effect of general anaesthetic. I've not seen enough post-op recovery to know exactly how common, but it's high on the list of side-effects we have to tell people.

WRT the hypothermia, you may have been slightly hypothermic as a result of having so much of your body surface exposed to the air. People don't realise that ambient temperature (18-22C) is actually quite cold in relation to body temperature (36.7C) - it's only the fact that we wear clothes that means we don't feel it.

Nowadays we have heated blankets in theatre too, to offset this heat loss.