Abstract
We performed 1238 paired measurements of abdominal skin temperature with and without a foil-backed, adhesive foam shield placed over the thermistor (YSI). Paired measurements were made simultaneously at adjacent skin sites. All infants (28-33 wk gestation) were in single-walled incubators operated by skin temperature servocontrol.
The shielded thermistor always recorded a higher temperature than the unshielded thermistor; the difference ranged from 0 to 1.2°C. There were 824 measurement pairs in the supine position (mean 0.27°C, SD 0.14°C) and 414 in the prone position (0.31 ± 0.19°C). The supine data were considered more reliable because the thermistors could always be attached in the same position (mid-epigastrium) and there were fewer problems with skin contact. The supine data were examined by analysis of variance. The effect of shielding (shielded - unshielded) increased with age (0.24°C at 1 wk to 0.32°C at 6 wk) and decreased with skin control temperature (0.30°C at 35.5°C to 0.25°C at 37.0°C). The effect of shielding also correlated significantly (linear regression analysis) with the core-skin, core-environment, and skin-environment thermal gradients, and also with the tissue insulation.
Although statistically significant, these effects are of little clinical significance. It is important, however, to realize that shielding the servocontrol probe in incubators increases the perceived temperature by an average of 0.3°C.
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Bell, E., Rios, G. 1340 SHOULD SKIN TEMPERATURE SERVOCONTROL PROBES BE SHIELDED FROM THE ENVIRONMENT IN INCUBATORS?. Pediatr Res 19, 334 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-01364
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-01364