USE OF INFRARED THERMOMETRY TO MEASURE LAVAGE AND INTRAVENOUS FLUID TEMPERATURE

Citation
Ro. Wright et al., USE OF INFRARED THERMOMETRY TO MEASURE LAVAGE AND INTRAVENOUS FLUID TEMPERATURE, The American journal of emergency medicine, 13(3), 1995, pp. 281-284
Citations number
NO
Categorie Soggetti
Emergency Medicine & Critical Care
ISSN journal
07356757
Volume
13
Issue
3
Year of publication
1995
Pages
281 - 284
Database
ISI
SICI code
0735-6757(1995)13:3<281:UOITTM>2.0.ZU;2-X
Abstract
A study was conducted to determine the accuracy of tympanic thermomete rs for measuring the temperature of warmed fluids in fluid bags and in tubing at the delivery site tie, beside the intravenous [IV] catheter ), One-liter 0.9% saline bags were warmed in a microwave oven, A therm ocouple electronic temperature probe was then used to measure the refe rence temperature, The probe was inserted into each bag and bathed in the fluid, Temperature changes were recorded simultaneously over a 20- minute period using the probe and a First Temp Tympanic Thermometer (I ntelligent Medical Systems, Inc, Carlsbad, CA). The warmed fluid was t hen allowed to run through microdrip IV tubing. Temperature of the eff luent was measured in the tubing using the tympanic thermometer extern ally and the probe internally at the same point, The two measures were compared using linear regression and Student's t tests. Overall, the correlation between the two probes was r = 0.99 for both the fluid bag s and the IV tubing. The overall mean differences were small, 0.7 degr ees C and 1.2 degrees C for the bags and tubing, respectively, but the y were statistically different (P > .05), Data were analyzed in three temperature ranges: <36 degrees C, 36 degrees C to 41 degrees C, and > 41 degrees C, Again, small differences were found on the order of 1 de grees C. It was concluded that infrared thermometry is an accurate met hod for measuring the initial and delivery temperature of warmed fluid s. Although tympanic thermometer measurements were statistically diffe rent from reference readings in certain temperature ranges, these diff erences were small and not clinically significant. Tympanic thermomete rs can measure the temperature of warmed fluid bags and lavage and IV effluent adjacent to the catheter site, ensuring that hypothermic pati ents receive fluid at therapeutic temperatures. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company