Monitoring temperature in children undergoing anaesthesia: a comparison of methods
Anaesthesia and Intensive care
Volume 42, Issue 3 May 2014,315-320
Children undergoing anaesthesia are prone to hypothermia. Perioperative
monitoring of patient temperature is, therefore, standard practice.
Postoperative temperature is regarded as a key anaesthetic performance
indicator in Australian hospitals. Many different methods and sites of
temperature measurement are used perioperatively. It is unclear to what
degree these methods might be interchangeable. The aim of this study was
to determine the relationships between temperatures measured at
different sites in anaesthetised children. Two hundred children, 0 to 17
years, undergoing general anaesthesia for elective non-cardiac surgery,
were prospectively recruited. Temperature measurements were taken in
the operating theatre concurrently at the nasopharynx, tympanic
membranes, temporal artery, axilla and skin (chest). Patient age and
weight were documented. Temperatures varied according to site of
measurement.
The mean difference from nasopharyngeal temperature to
temperatures at left and right tympanic, temporal, axillary and
cutaneous sites were +0.24°C, +0.24°C, +0.35°C, -0.38°C and -1.70°C,
respectively.
Levels of agreement to nasopharyngeal temperature were
similar at tympanic, temporal and axillary sites. Tympanic and temporal
temperatures were superior to axillary temperatures for detection of
mild hypothermia (<36°C). Skin temperature showed a large variation
from nasopharyngeal measurements. Our findings indicate that measured
temperatures vary between sites. Understanding these variations is
important for interpreting temperature readings.
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