CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT OF CORE BODY TEMPERATURE IN PRETERM INFANTS

Shaul Dollberg; Ayelet Rimon; Harry D. Atherton; Steve B. Hoath

doi:10.1055/s-2000-10008

American Journal of Perinatology, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Am J Perinatol 2000; Volume 17(Number 05): 257-264
DOI: 10.1055/s-2000-10008

CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT OF CORE BODY TEMPERATURE IN PRETERM INFANTS

Shaul Dollberg¹ , Ayelet Rimon¹ , Harry D. Atherton² , Steve B. Hoath²

¹Department of Neonatology, Lis Maternity Hospital, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
²Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

Abstract

ABSTRACT

We tested a transcutaneous core temperature sensor using a method that relies on the principle of zero heat flow. We tested the hypothesis that transcutaneous and rectal temperatures would track within 0.3°C of each other for >90% of the time. A thermistor was placed between the infant's abdomen or back and the incubator's or radiant warmer's mattress, or within the axilla, attached to the skin with a foam adhesive disk insulator. Thirty preterm infants were either placed on their abdomens or backs in a convective incubator or under a radiant warmer, and continuous transcutaneous and rectal temperatures were measured for 1 hour. There were no significant differences between abdominal and core temperatures or between axillary and core temperatures measured in double-walled convective incubators or in radiant warmers. The rectal-abdominal temperature difference was significantly less than the rectal-axillary difference (p < 0.02) in convective incubators, but not when the infant was placed prone under radiant warmers (p = 0.27). Transcutaneous thermometry is reliable for monitoring core body temperature as indicated by rectal temperature in stable preterm infants in a convective incubator.

KEYWORD

Transcutaneous thermometry - core temperature - preterm infants - axillary temperature - incubator - radiant warmer

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Referenzen

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