[The ear thermometer; not a good replacement for the rectal thermometer]

Area of Science:

• Medical Devices
• Clinical Thermometry
• Patient Monitoring

Background:

• Accurate body temperature measurement is crucial for diagnosing and managing febrile illnesses.
• Digital rectal thermometers are considered a gold standard for core body temperature measurement.
• Tympanic infrared thermometers offer a non-invasive alternative but their accuracy in detecting fever requires evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of tympanic infrared thermometers versus digital rectal thermometers in measuring body temperature.
• To assess the sensitivity of tympanic thermometers in identifying fever compared to rectal measurements.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, comparative study was conducted at Beatrix Hospital, the Netherlands.
• 2057 simultaneous rectal and tympanic temperature measurements were taken from 164 patients across nine wards.
• Data analysis focused on mean differences, standard deviation, correlation, and fever detection rates.

Main Results:

• Tympanic temperatures were consistently lower than rectal temperatures, with a mean difference of 0.45°C (SD 0.57°C).
• The tympanic thermometer missed 60% of fever cases when using a rectal threshold of 37.8°C.
• Conversely, the rectal thermometer failed to detect fever in only 12% of cases when using a tympanic threshold of 37.8°C.

Conclusions:

• The tympanic infrared thermometer demonstrates low sensitivity for fever detection.
• Its unsuitability for fever screening renders it unreliable as a primary fever thermometer.
• Digital rectal thermometry remains a more dependable method for accurate fever assessment.