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[Comparative study of tympanic and mercury thermometry in children]
M A Montoya-Cabrera1, P Escalante-Galindo, E Flores-Alvarez
1Departamento de Admisión Continua y Toxicología, Hospital de Pediatría, CMN Siglo XXI, IMSS, México D.F., México.
Insights
Tympanic thermometers accurately measure pediatric temperature, showing consistency with traditional methods. This fast, non-invasive option offers an acceptable alternative for children's fever detection.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Medical Devices
- Thermometry
Background:
- Accurate temperature measurement is crucial in pediatric care.
- Conventional methods like glass-mercury thermometers have limitations.
- Tympanic thermometry offers potential advantages in speed and ease of use.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the accuracy and consistency of tympanic thermometry compared to conventional methods in pediatric patients.
- To assess the reliability of tympanic thermometers in identifying febrile states across different age groups.
- To compare the sensitivity and specificity of tympanic, rectal, oral, and axillary thermometers.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 186 pediatric patients.
- Tympanic thermometry was used as the standard measurement device.
- Comparison with rectal, oral, and axillary glass-mercury thermometry.
Main Results:
- Tympanic measurements showed no significant difference from rectal measurements in children under 6 years.
- Similar consistency was observed in older children when comparing tympanic to oral temperatures.
- Tympanic thermometry demonstrated high specificity (100%) in detecting fever, with rectal and oral methods showing moderate sensitivity.
Conclusions:
- Tympanic thermometry is consistent with established methods (rectal, oral) in pediatric populations.
- Its advantages include speed, non-invasiveness, and patient comfort.
- Tympanic thermometry is a viable and acceptable option for pediatric temperature assessment.
Abstract:
The aim of the study was to evaluate tympanic thermometry when compared with conventional glass-mercury thermometry, in 186 consecutive pediatric patients. In patients of less than 6 years of age (n = 120), there were no differences between tympanic and rectal measurements, in febrile and afebrile ranges, and significantly different when compared with axillary range. Similar data were reported in children of more than than 6 years of age (n = 65), in whom oral temperatures replace the rectal one. Using the tympanic thermometer as the standard measurement device, the accuracy of rectal, oral and axillary thermometers in determining a febrile state was examined. When tympanic temperature was 38 degrees C, a febrile state was considered, in this condition sensitivity for rectal measurement was of 73%, for oral 64%, and 23 and 29% for the axillary, according to the age group: specificity was of 100% in all the them. According to our data, tympanic measurement was consistent with glass-mercurial, rectal and oral, temperature in a pediatric population. Advantages of tympanic thermometry are its good correlation with central temperature, substantial time reduction of measurement (1 second), easy and non-invasive procedure, improved patient comfort, and lack of mercurial thermometry disadvantages. The conclusion is that tympanic thermometry becomes an acceptable option for pediatric temperature measurement.
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