Appropriate depth for the esophageal stethoscope placement for temperature monitoring - a pilot study

Kichang Lee; Tae Won Lim; Ki Tae Jung

doi:10.30579/mbse.2024.7.1.23

https://doi.org/10.30579/mbse.2024.7.1.23

Appropriate depth for the esophageal stethoscope placement for temperature monitoring - a pilot study

Med Biol Sci Eng 2024;7(1):23-27

Published online January 31, 2024

Kichang Lee^1,2,3, Tae Won Lim⁴, Ki Tae Jung^1,2,4,5

¹Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, ²Harvard Medical School, ³Cardiac Arrhythmia Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA, ⁴Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chosun University Hospital, ⁵Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine and Medical School, Chosun University, Gwangju, Korea

Correspondence to: Ki Tae Jung
Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chosun University Hospital, 365 Pilmun-dearo, Donggu, Gwangju 61453, Korea
Tel: +82-62-220 3223
Fax: +82-62-223-2333
E-mail: mdmole@chosun.ac.kr
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2486-9961

Received September 24, 2023; Revised October 10, 2023; Accepted October 11, 2023.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract: Accurate body temperature monitoring is essential for maintaining a core temperature during general anesthesia. This study aimed to determine the appropriate insertion depth of the esophageal stethoscope (IDE) to measure core body temperature accurately. Fourteen patients undergoing elective surgery in the supine position were included in the study. The esophageal stethoscope was inserted to a depth of 45 cm from the incisors. Then, it was withdrawn sequentially, 2 cm at a time, at 5-minute intervals. Temperatures of the esophagus according to the IDE were compared with the core temperature of the tympanic membrane (TM) using Bland and Altman analysis. A mean difference of ±1.96 standard deviations in temperatures between TM and esophagus showed a clinically acceptable range of -0.5^oC and 0.5^oC at the IDE between 43 and 31 cm. At both locations, the Bland-Altman test showed good limits of agreement, but temperatures at IDE 41 cm showed better agreement (the bias of 0.28^oC with 95% CI 0.13 to 0.43). Inserting an esophageal stethoscope between 43 and 41 cm will guarantee accurate core temperature monitoring.; Keywords : Anesthesia; Body temperature; Esophagus; Intraoperative monitoring; Stethoscope

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