Comparative study of body temperature with rectal and tympanic methods.

Introduction. - Tympanic temperature measuring is more and more used curren tly. We wanted to test this method's accuracy in an internal medicine servi ce. Methods. - First, we compared rectal and tympanic temperatures in 37 consec utive patients. Tympanic temperature was assessed by two examinors. Secondl y, we compared in 32 other patients, the readings given by tympanic thermom eter used in the first part, with those given by nine other tympanic thermo meters used in other hospital departments. Results. - We did not find any difference between right and left auricular temperature, nor between the temperatures assessed by the two examinors. Ho wever, there was a difference between the average tympanic and rectal tempe ratures (36.88 degrees C +/- 0.63 vs 37.36 degrees C +/- 0.57; P < 0.001). The correlation coefficient between tympanic and rectal temperature was onl y 0.77. If a threshold of temperature of greater than or equal to 38 degree s C were given for fever, only 29% of febrile patients would have been dete cted with a tympanic thermometer (Kappa coefficient = 0,406 [0,326 - 0,485] ). Fever was especially underestimated for high temperatures. The compariso n of different tympanic thermometers gives different averages for these ten thermometers between 36,5 degrees C and 37,2 degrees C. Conclusion. - Though tympanic temperature measure is an easy method, it is not sensitive enough to detect fever. (C) Editions scientifiques et medical es Elsevier SAS.