Axillary Thermometry Demonstrates Greater Reliability Compared With Rectal Thermometry in Healthy Neonates.

Rectal thermometry (RT) is considered the gold standard for measuring temperature in newborns, despite increasing use of temporal artery thermometry (TT) and axillary thermometry (AT) methods. Few prospective studies compare RT, TT, and AT in a newborn nursery setting. To determine the accuracy and reliability of these methods, we enrolled 205 healthy, full-term newborns.