Assessment of hypothermia with a new "tympanic" thermometer

• Published in: Journal of clinical monitoring Vol. 10; no. 2; p. 91
• Main Authors: Walpoth, B H, Galdikas, J, Leupi, F, Muehlemann, W, Schlaepfer, P, Althaus, U
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.1994
• Subjects: Adult; Cardiopulmonary Bypass; Elective Surgical Procedures; Humans; Hypothermia - diagnosis; Monitoring, Physiologic - instrumentation; Reference Values; Temperature; Thermometers
• ISSN: 0748-1977
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02886820

Rapid and accurate core temperature measurement is vitally important in trauma patients, especially in those with accidental hypothermia. We tested a new aural thermometer to measure "tympanic" temperatures and assessed its accuracy during normothermic and hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. Tympanic, esophageal, and blood temperatures were compared in 10 patients undergoing open-heart surgery. In addition, the stability and reaction time of the tympanic thermometer was evaluated in 5 volunteers in a cold room, with and without facial fanning. We observed a good linear correlation between tympanic and esophageal (r = 0.96) and blood (r = 0.81) temperature measurements during normothermia and hypothermia. There was no evidence of iatrogenic ear lesions in any of the patients. In the cold-room tests, stability was excellent and the time for adjustment of tympanic temperature measurement was about 2 min (with and without facial fanning). The new tympanic thermoprobe is a simple, fast, and reliable device for measuring core temperature. The device was designed particularly for, and may be useful for, patients suffering from accidental hypothermia.