Effect of Tachypnea on the Estimation of Body Temperature by an Oral Thermometer

Abstract

Hermann BOERHAAVE introduced clinical thermometry into the practice of medicine in 1709, and since that time a measurement of body temperature has been included in the early evaluation of most sick patients.1 This is because useful clues about the nature and severity of a patient's illness can often be derived from the pattern and magnitude of the temperature elevation.2 , 3 There is some controversy about the best site for measuring body temperature in adult outpatients: The rectal temperature measurement is commonly believed to be more reliable than the oral or axillary because the rectum is more protected from the effects of . . .