Body surface infrared thermometry in patients with central venous cateter-related infections

• Main Authors: José Henrique Silvah, Cristiane Maria Mártires de Lima, Maria do Rosário Del Lama de Unamuno, Marco Antônio Alves Schetino, Luana Pereira Leite Schetino, Priscila Giácomo Fassini, Camila Fernanda Costa e Cunha Moraes Brandão, Anibal Basile-Filho, Selma Freire Carvalho da Cunha, Julio Sergio Marchini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein
• Series: Einstein (São Paulo)
• Subjects: Cateteres venosos centrais; Infecções relacionadas a cateter; Termometria; Raios infravermelhos; Diagnóstico precoce; Terapia intensiva
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-45082015000300364&lng=en&tlng=en

Objective To evaluate if body surface temperature close to the central venous catheter insertion area is different when patients develop catheter-related bloodstream infections.Methods Observational cross-sectional study. Using a non-contact infrared thermometer, 3 consecutive measurements of body surface temperature were collected from 39 patients with central venous catheter on the following sites: nearby the catheter insertion area or totally implantable catheter reservoir, the equivalent contralateral region (without catheter), and forehead of the same subject.Results A total of 323 observations were collected. Respectively, both in male and female patients, disregarding the occurrence of infection, the mean temperature on the catheter area minus that on the contralateral region (mean ± standard deviation: -0.3±0.6°C versus-0.2±0.5ºC; p=0.36), and the mean temperature on the catheter area minus that on the forehead (mean ± standard deviation: -0.2±0.5°C versus-0.1±0.5ºC; p=0.3) resulted in negative values. Moreover, in infected patients, higher values were obtained on the catheter area (95%CI: 36.6-37.5ºC versus 36.3-36.5ºC; p<0.01) and by temperature subtractions: catheter area minus contralateral region (95%CI: -0.17 - +0.33ºC versus -0.33 - -0.20ºC; p=0.02) and catheter area minus forehead (95%CI: -0.02 - +0.55ºC versus-0.22 - -0.10ºC; p<0.01).Conclusion Using a non-contact infrared thermometer, patients with catheter-related bloodstream infections had higher temperature values both around catheter insertion area and in the subtraction of the temperatures on the contralateral and forehead regions from those on the catheter area.