Background: Thermometry at other body sites than the rectum may have its advantages. Some studies have shown that infrared tympanic measurement has poor sensitivity in febrile patients. We evaluated a new infrared temporal thermometer that calculates core temperature by measuring skin temperature and ambient temperature over the superficial temporal artery.
Material and methods: During two periods in 2002, 164 consecutive intensive care patients were measured by both digital rectal and infrared temporal thermometry.
Results: The average difference between rectal and temporal measurements was 0.3 degrees C. Fever was defined as a rectal temperature of 38 degrees C and was present in 70 patients. The temporal scanner detected fever in 33 of those patients, which gives a sensitivity of 53 % (95% CI 41-65%) and a specificity of 96 % (95% CI 90-99%). The positive predictive value was 90% (95% CI 77-97%) and the negative predictive value 73% (95% CI 64-81%).
Interpretation: The results are better than for infrared tympanometry. The sensitivity of the infrared temporal thermometer for detecting rectally measured fever is too low to recommend its use in adult intensive care patients.