Comparison of rectal, axillary, and tympanic membrane temperatures in infants and young children.

Study Objective: To evaluate the reliability of a tympanic membrane thermometer in detecting fever in young children presenting to the emergency department.

Setting: Pediatric emergency department in an urban teaching hospital, DESIGN/MEASUREMENT/PARTICIPANTS: Temperature measurements were obtained sequentially at three body sites in children less than 3 years old presenting to the pediatric ED. Axillary and rectal temperatures were obtained with an electronic thermistor probe (Diatek 500), and tympanic membrane temperatures were obtained with a noncontact, infrared sensing device (First TEMP).