Shivering after anesthesia is usually your body’s normal response to getting cold, and it is a common side effect after surgery. During anesthesia, your body’s temperature control is blunted, the operating room is often cool, and your temperature can drop. Shivering can happen after a general anesthetic or after regional anesthesia, such as a spinal or epidural. It usually stops within 20 to 30 minutes.

Shivering is not dangerous, but it can be uncomfortable and it makes your body use more oxygen. The team in recovery will check your temperature and may give you warm blankets or a hot drink. If that is not enough, they may use warming medicine or warm fluids through a vein. You can help by staying as warm as possible before surgery, telling the nurses if you feel cold, and bringing warm clothes and slippers to hospital.