[Influence of axillary temperature on blood culture yield in the emergency department].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients undergoing blood culture in the emergency department and to identify the relation between the results of blood culture and axillary temperature at blood extraction.


METHODS
We performed a prospective, observational study. All patients who underwent blood extraction by 2 emergency department nurses, as indicated by physicians, between January 2004 and December 2005 were included. The patients were stratified into subgroups according to their temperature on extraction and final diagnosis. Bivariate analysis was performed to compare the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the patients in relation to the presence of bacteremia and the distinct subgroups established. Isolates of common contaminating microorganisms were discarded.


RESULTS
A total of 603 patients were included. The highest percentages of bacteremia were found in patients with high fever or hypothermia. Among the overall group of patients, a significant correlation was found between axillary temperature and bacteremia. However, when patients with a final diagnosis of a disease with a low probability of bacteremia were excluded, this correlation disappeared and no association was found between temperature and the risk of bacteremia in specific infectious processes (pneumonia, pyelonephritis, etc).


CONCLUSIONS
The main factor associated with bacteremia was the disease prompting blood culture rather than patient temperature.
Area de Urgencias, Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova, Lleida, España. mfalguera@comll.cat
María
M
Torras-Comamala
Rosario
R
Aceituno-Ruiz
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001365:Axilla; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood* / Q000382:microbiology*; D001831:Body Temperature; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies