Gac Med Mex
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Comparative Study
[Comparative study of tympanic and mercury thermometry in children].
The aim of the study was to evaluate tympanic thermometry when compared with conventional glass-mercury thermometry, in 186 consecutive pediatric patients. In patients of less than 6 years of age (n = 120), there were no differences between tympanic and rectal measurements, in febrile and afebrile ranges, and significantly different when compared with axillary range. Similar data were reported in children of more than than 6 years of age (n = 65), in whom oral temperatures replace the rectal one. ⋯ According to our data, tympanic measurement was consistent with glass-mercurial, rectal and oral, temperature in a pediatric population. Advantages of tympanic thermometry are its good correlation with central temperature, substantial time reduction of measurement (1 second), easy and non-invasive procedure, improved patient comfort, and lack of mercurial thermometry disadvantages. The conclusion is that tympanic thermometry becomes an acceptable option for pediatric temperature measurement.