TY - JOUR T1 - Thermometry in paediatric practice JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood JO - Arch Dis Child SP - 351 LP - 356 DO - 10.1136/adc.2005.088831 VL - 91 IS - 4 AU - A S El-Radhi AU - W Barry Y1 - 2006/04/01 UR - http://adc.bmj.com/content/91/4/351.abstract N2 - Body temperature is commonly measured to confirm the presence or absence of fever. However, there remains considerable controversy regarding the most appropriate thermometer and the best anatomical site for temperature measurement. Core temperature is generally defined as the temperature measured within the pulmonary artery. Other standard core temperature monitoring sites (distal oesophagus, bladder, and nasopharynx) are accurate to within 0.1–0.2°C of core temperature and are useful surrogates for deep body temperature. However, as deep-tissue measurement sites are clinically inaccessible, physicians have utilised other sites to monitor body temperature including the axilla, skin, under the tongue, rectum, and tympanic membrane. Recent studies have shown that tympanic temperature accurately reflects pulmonary artery temperature, even when body temperature is changing rapidly. Once outstanding issues are addressed, the tympanic site is likely to become the gold standard for measuring temperature in children. ER -