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Body warmer and upper extremities position affect the accuracy of cutaneous thermometers during anesthesia
1Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, MO 63110-1093, USA. jeffrey_j_huang@hotmail.com
Study Objective:
To evaluate whether axillary skin temperature can accurately reflect distal esophageal temperature.
Design:
Prospective, randomized study.
Setting:
Teaching hospital.
Patients:
48 ASA physical status I and II adult patients undergoing abdominal surgery.
Interventions:
Patients received standard general anesthesia. 19 patients had abducted upper extremities and an upper body surface warmer, 19 patients had abducted upper extremities with no upper body surface warmer, and 10 patients had adducted upper extremities with no upper body surface warmer.
Measurements And Main Results:
The temperatures were measured 60 minutes after the induction of general anesthesia. There was no significant difference between axillary skin temperature (36 +/- 1.7) (degrees C) and core temperature (36 +/- 0.7) (degrees C) when the upper body surface warmer was used. There was no difference between axillary skin temperature (35.5 +/- 0.4) (degrees C) and core temperature (35.8 +/- 0.4) (degrees C) when upper extremity was adducted 0 degrees.
Conclusions:
At 0 degrees of arm adduction, or at 90 degrees using the upper body, forced-air surface warmer, axillary skin temperature accurately identified the core temperature in patients during general anesthesia.