Normal oral, rectal, tympanic and axillary body temperature in adult men and women: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Normal oral, rectal, tympanic and axillary body temperature in adult men and women: a systematic literature review The purpose of this study was to investigate normal body temperature in adult men and women. A systematic review of data was performed. Searches were carried out in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and manually from identified articles reference lists. Studies from 1935 to 1999 were included. Articles were classified as (1) strong, (2) fairly strong and (3) weak evidence. When summarizing studies with strong or fairly strong evidence the range for oral temperature was 33.2–38.2 °C, rectal: 34.4–37.8 °C, tympanic: 35.4– 37.8 °C and axillary: 35.5–37.0 °C. The range in oral temperature for men and women, respectively, was 35.7–37.7 and 33.2–38.1 °C, in rectal 36.7–37.5 and 36.8–37.1 °C, and in tympanic 35.5–37.5 and 35.7–37.5 °C. The ranges of normal body temperature need to be adjusted, especially for the lower values. When assessing body temperature it is important to take place of measurement and gender into consideration. Studies with random samples are needed to confirm the range of normal body temperature with respect to gender and age.

NICE guidelines for inadvertent peri‐operative hypothermia

“…The potential benefit, or indeed harm, conferred by therapies co-administered with ILE are undoubtedly best examined in robust animal models of intoxication. Conflicting outcomes when vasopressors are combined with ILE in animal models [3][4][5] serve as a case in point. Potential interactions between additional lipophilic therapies (e.g.…”

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“…Its 140 years of records show that the historical highest and the lowest temperatures in Tokyo are 39.5˚C (2004/7/20) and −9.2˚C (1876/ 1/13), respectively; these data demonstrate that the external thermal environment varies widely, with a range of 48.7˚C [1]. However, human body temperature is maintained within a narrow range (35.7˚C -37.3˚C in males and 33.2˚C -38.1˚C in females) because humans are homeothermic [2].…”

“…Because of this, researchers have investigated the normal ranges of oral, rectal, tympanic, and axillary body temperatures in healthy adult men and women [2]. Moreover, we previously report that decreases in body temperature are associated with acute stress [3] [4], and hypothermia has been found in cancer patients and in cancer model mice [5] [6].…”

The Effects of Hyperbaric Exposure on Immediate and Delayed Changes in Core Temperature and Its Circadian Fluctuations

“…For example, a temperature range of 33.2-38.2°C was measured in the mouth cavity at the same time as 34.4-37.8°C was measured in the rectum; the value obtained from surface measurement in the axillary fossa was 35.5-37.0°C [2].…”