Comparison of rectal, axillary, tympanic, and temporal artery thermometry in the pediatric emergency room.

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of temperature in the emergency room is important for diagnosis as well as investigating a patient. Various noninvasive methods thermometry are available today, but there is no consensus on the most accurate method of thermometry. STUDY OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to compare different methods of temperature measurement available in the emergency room, that is, rectal, axillary, and temporal artery and tympanic membrane. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional observational study PATIENTS: Fifty febrile and 50 afebrile children aged 2 to 12 years attending the pediatric emergency room of a tertiary care hospital were included. Temperatures were measured using rectal, axillary, tympanic (right and left), and temporal artery thermometers and were compared. RESULTS: All the temperatures correlated well with rectal temperature, with temporal artery temperature showing the best correlation (correlation coefficients, 0.99 in the febrile and 0.91 in the afebrile group). CONCLUSIONS: Temporal artery thermometry has the potential to replace rectal thermometry in a busy emergency room setting.