Temporal artery temperature measurements in healthy infants, children, and adolescents.

A noninvasive temporal artery thermometer that uses arterial heat balance technology has been compared to rectal and ear thermometry and is available in the marketplace. This study was undertaken to establish mean temperatures and temperatures 2 standard deviations above the mean for healthy infants, children, and adolescents. Temperatures were measured in healthy patients 0 to 18 years of age using a noninvasive temporal artery thermometer. Temperatures were measured in 2,346 patients. Mean temperatures and temperatures 2 standard deviations above the mean were: 37.1 degrees C (38.1 degrees C) for 383 infants 0 to 2 months; 36.9 degrees C (37.9 degrees C) for 860 children 3 to 47 months; 36.8 degrees C (37.8 degrees C) for 680 children 4 to 9 years; and 36.7 degrees C (37.8 degrees C) for 423 adolescents 10 to 18 years. There were no significant differences in temperatures in white compared to African-American children, children with or without perspiration on their forehead, or between measurements taken on the left compared to the right side of the forehead. This study provides information about temporal artery temperatures in healthy infants and children that can serve as a basis for interpreting temperature measurements in ill children when the same instrument is used.