The Effectiveness and Accuracy of Rectal Thermometers

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There has been great debate and controversy in trying to determine the appropriate methods in attaining an accurate temperature in pediatric patients. In light of new technological advances to find innovative ways to attain exact temperatures in this population, there are hospitals and affiliated medical centers that still assess pediatric temperature through traditional means, which is rectal thermometer. Even more disturbing is the continued use of glass mercury-filled thermometers in the health care setting. These add additional risks of metal toxicity from the leakage of mercury and possible rectal perforation (Chiappini, Sollai, Longhi, Morandini, Laghi, Osio, Persiani, Lonati, Picchi, Bonsignori, Mannelli, Galli, & de Martino, 2010; Teran, Torrez-Llanos, Teran-Miranda, Balderrama, Shah, & Villarroel, 2011). Other means of assessing core temperature in terms of accuracy include obtaining a temperature through the pulmonary artery, tympanic membrane, esophagus, and urinary bladder (Braun, 2006). All of these are quite invasive techniques and are not well tolerated amongst the pediatric population. However, the most accurate noninvasive method can be quite confusing amongst the medical professional in the provisions of care and assessment.

Rectal thermometers are not well tolerated and can cause distress in the pediatric population. It can also have the risk of perforating the bowl if the practitioner does not perform the task as directed (Sund-Levander & Grodzinsky, 2013). If other means of temperature measurements were used, there could be a decrease in the specified risks but the accuracy of the measurement may be unreliable. There are few hospitals, like Children’s Hospital of Michigan, that use other means of taking a t...

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