A comparison of auricular, rectal and pulmonary artery thermometry in dogs with anesthesia‐induced hypothermia

Abstract

AbstractObjective: To determine if a correlation exists among auricular, rectal and pulmonary artery (PA) temperatures in hypothermic dogs.Design: Prospective study.Setting: Angiography suite at a college of veterinary medicine.Animals: Sexually intact female research hounds (13.9–25.4 kg; n=8).Measurements and main results: Dogs were anesthetized for instrumentation with a percutaneously placed, thermistor‐tipped, PA catheter. Anesthesia was maintained until the core body temperature decreased to 36.6°C (97.8°F). Anesthesia was discontinued, and auricular and rectal temperatures were obtained every 15 minutes until the PA temperature reached 38.3°C (100.9°F). A strong correlation was noted among the 3 methods of temperature measurement (P<0.001; R≥0.846). No statistical difference was detected among measurement methods at baseline, the minimum temperature attained, nor the median temperature attained. However, at the maximum temperature attained, auricular measurements (37.7±0.4°C or 99.8±0.7°F) were lower than either the rectal (38.3±0.3°C or 100.9±0.5°F) or PA (38.3±0.3°C or 100.9±0.5°F) temperature measurements (P=0.001).Conclusion: There is a strong correlation among rectal, auricular and PA temperatures. Auricular temperature may be used to monitor core body temperature during postoperative rewarming; however, it might be slightly lower than core temperature as normothermia is reached.