ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07749209TEMP-AGREEUpdated Aug 6, 2026

Agreement Among Three Methods of Intraoperative Core Temperature Monitoring: Nasopharyngeal Probe, TaiDoc TD-1261 Infrared Tympanic Thermometer, and 3M SpotOn™ Skin Sensor

An observational study in Intraoperative Temperature Monitoring and Body Temperature, sponsored by Khon Kaen University. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Thailand. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 85 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-06.

Sponsored by Khon Kaen University · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
270
Ages
18 Years to 85 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

Keeping a patient's body temperature normal during surgery is an important part of safe anesthetic care. When the body temperature drops below 36°C (called inadvertent perioperative hypothermia), patients face higher risks of bleeding, wound infection, heart problems, and a slower recovery. To prevent these complications, anesthesiologists monitor core body temperature continuously during surgery.

Three monitoring methods are commonly used in clinical practice: (1) a nasopharyngeal probe - a small soft sensor inserted through the nose and placed at the back of the throat, which provides continuous readings and is considered the gold standard; (2) an infrared tympanic thermometer (TaiDoc TD-1261) - a handheld device that measures ear temperature in about one second; and (3) the 3M SpotOn™ sensor - a non-invasive adhesive patch placed on the forehead that continuously estimates core temperature without requiring insertion into any body cavity.

Although all three methods are used interchangeably at Srinagarind Hospital, no study has directly compared all three simultaneously in the same patient to determine how well they agree with each other. If significant differences exist between methods, a clinician who switches from one device to another may unknowingly under-detect or over-estimate hypothermia.

This study will enroll 92 adult patients scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University. All three temperature sensors will be applied at the same time, and readings will be recorded simultaneously every 15 minutes throughout the operation. The main goal is to determine whether each device gives results close enough to the nasopharyngeal probe to be safely used as an alternative. The study is observational - no medications or procedures will be added to routine care.

Read the detailed description

Background: Inadvertent perioperative hypothermia (IPH), defined as a core body temperature \< 36.0°C, affects 20-90% of patients undergoing general anesthesia and is associated with coagulopathy, surgical site infection, morbid cardiac events, and prolonged drug metabolism. Accurate intraoperative temperature monitoring is mandated by professional society guidelines.

Study design: Prospective, single-center, triple-method observational agreement study at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, Thailand. All three thermometry modalities are applied simultaneously in each participant. No intervention is assigned; temperature monitoring is additional to standard perioperative care.

Methods: After induction of general anesthesia and tracheal intubation, the nasopharyngeal (NP) probe (reference standard), TaiDoc TD-1261 infrared tympanic thermometer (test method 1), and 3M SpotOn™ zero-heat-flux forehead sensor (test method 2) are placed. Simultaneous temperature readings are recorded at 15-minute intervals from 15 minutes after induction until surgery end. For the TD-1261, two consecutive readings are taken at each time point and averaged; pinna retraction and fresh disposable probe cover are used at every measurement. The SpotOn™ sensor requires a 10-minute equilibration period before the first recorded value.

Statistical analysis: Primary analysis uses repeated-measures Bland-Altman analysis (Myles \& Cui, 2007 framework) to estimate bias and limits of agreement (LoA) for each method pair against the NP probe. Pre-specified clinical acceptability criterion: LoA within ±0.5°C (Sessler, 2008). Variance of differences is decomposed into between-subject (σ²_B) and within-subject (σ²_W) components. Secondary analyses: proportional bias assessment, sensitivity/specificity for hypothermia detection (NP \< 36.0°C), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC, two-way mixed-effects model), and multivariable linear mixed-effects regression for clinical covariates. Sample size: 92 patients (Lu et al., 2016 method; 80% power; α = 0.05; SD of differences = 0.30°C for NP vs. TM; LoA acceptability threshold ±0.50°C; 15% dropout allowance).

This study provides the first institution-specific, population-specific evidence on temperature monitoring agreement in Thai surgical patients and constitutes the first published intraoperative validation of the TaiDoc TD-1261 infrared tympanic thermometer.

02

Conditions studied

  • Intraoperative Temperature Monitoring
  • Body Temperature

Keywords

  • core temperature
  • temperature monitoring
  • nasopharyngeal probe
  • infrared tympanic thermometer
  • zero-heat-flux
  • SpotOn
  • TaiDoc TD-1261
  • Bland-Altman; agreement
  • method comparison
  • perioperative hypothermia
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Khon Kaen University is the lead sponsor of 161 studies on the registry; 24 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 85 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Adult patients scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia with tracheal intubation at Srinagarind Hospital and Queen Sirikit Heart Center of the Northeast, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand, with expected surgical duration ≥ 60 minutes and ASA Physical Status I-III.

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • We will include 3 independent groups of patients receiving general anesthesia with tracheal intubation:

Group 1: Cardiac surgery Group 2: Thoracic surgery Group 3: General surgery, including neurosurgery

  • Expected surgical duration ≥ 60 minutes
  • ASA Physical Status Classification I- III
  • Able to provide written

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior nasal surgery, nasal polyps, deviated nasal septum, or significant epistaxis history precluding safe nasopharyngeal probe insertion
  • Otitis media, tympanic membrane perforation, significant cerumen impaction, or external auditory canal deformity that would prevent reliable infrared tympanic temperature measurement
  • Facial or forehead skin lesions, burns, or known adhesive at the planned 3M SpotOn™ application site, craniotomy, and head and neck surgery.
  • Baseline core temperature \< 35.0°C or > 38.5°C at preoperative assessment
  • Planned use of neuraxial anesthesia as the primary or adjunct technique
  • Emergency procedures, pregnancy, or procedures involving deliberate hypothermia or cardiopulmonary bypass.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

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Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
270 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Surgical Patients - All Three Monitoring Methods

    Adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia with tracheal intubation at Srinagarind Hospital and Queen Sirikit Heart Center of the Northeast, Khon Kaen University, with an expected surgical duration ≥ 60 minutes and ASA Physical Status I-III. All participants have all three temperature monitoring devices (NP probe, TaiDoc TD-1261 IR tympanic thermometer, and 3M SpotOn™ ZHF sensor) applied simultaneously following induction of anesthesia.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Limits of Agreement Between Each Test Method and the Nasopharyngeal Probe

    The 95% limits of agreement (LoA = Bias ± 1.96 × SD\_total) between (i) the TaiDoc TD-1261 infrared tympanic thermometer and the nasopharyngeal probe, and (ii) the 3M SpotOn™ sensor and the nasopharyngeal probe, estimated by repeated-measures Bland-Altman analysis. Pre-specified clinical acceptability criterion: LoA must be contained within ±0.5°C with both 95% CI limits of the upper and lower LoA falling within this range.

    Time frame: From 15 minutes after anesthesia induction until end of surgery; measurements recorded at 15-minute intervals (estimated total observation window: 60-195 minutes per participant)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Systematic Bias (Mean Difference) of Each Test Method vs. NP Probe

    Mean difference (°C) with 95% CI between each test method and the NP probe across all paired observations, estimated from the repeated-measures Bland-Altman model

    Time frame: From 15 minutes after anesthesia induction until surgery end (15-minute intervals)

  2. Proportional Bias Assessment

    Linear regression of the difference (test - reference) on the mean of both methods, with cluster-robust standard errors; Pitman's test for correlation between sum and difference

    Time frame: From 15 minutes after anesthesia induction until surgery end

  3. Sensitivity and Specificity for Hypothermia Detection

    Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of each test method for detecting intraoperative hypothermia defined as NP temperature \< 36.0°C, with AUROC estimated by DeLong's method

    Time frame: From 15 minutes after anesthesia induction until surgery end

  4. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient

    ICC (two-way mixed-effects model, absolute agreement) with 95% CI for each method pair

    Time frame: From 15 minutes after anesthesia induction until surgery end

  5. Percentage of Paired Measurements Within ±0.5°C

    Percentage of all paired simultaneous readings in which the test method falls within ±0.5°C of the simultaneous NP reference reading

    Time frame: From 15 minutes after anesthesia induction until surgery end

  6. Clinical Covariate Association With Method Difference

    Association between clinical covariates (age, sex, BMI, ASA status, surgical duration, anesthetic technique, active warming use, ambient OR temperature, baseline core temperature) and the absolute method difference, estimated by multivariable linear mixed-effects regression

    Time frame: Baseline characteristics collected before surgery; temperature data from 15 minutes post-induction until surgery end

  7. Incidence of Device-Related Adverse Events

    Rate of epistaxis (NP probe), aural discomfort or canal injury (TD-1261), and adhesive skin reaction (SpotOn™) during the monitoring period

    Time frame: From device placement until surgery end

07

Study locations

1 site
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References and documents

Publications

  • Wang J, Liang H, Tian C, Rong G, Shao X, Ran C. Agreement of zero-heat-flux thermometry compared with infrared tympanic temperature monitoring in adults undergoing major surgery. Eur J Med Res. 2025 Jan 30;30(1):60. doi: 10.1186/s40001-025-02317-9. PubMed 39885585 ↗
  • Iden T, Horn EP, Bein B, Bohm R, Beese J, Hocker J. Intraoperative temperature monitoring with zero heat flux technology (3M SpotOn sensor) in comparison with sublingual and nasopharyngeal temperature: An observational study. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2015 Jun;32(6):387-91. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000000232. PubMed 25693138 ↗
  • Wan L, Shen PY, Zhang SX, Wang LZ. Agreement of infrared ear temperature with nasopharyngeal temperature and diagnostic performance on hypothermia in general anesthetized patients. J Chin Med Assoc. 2022 Nov 1;85(11):1093-1097. doi: 10.1097/JCMA.0000000000000770. Epub 2022 Jul 6. PubMed 35797551 ↗
  • Lu MJ, Zhong WH, Liu YX, Miao HZ, Li YC, Ji MH. Sample Size for Assessing Agreement between Two Methods of Measurement by Bland-Altman Method. Int J Biostat. 2016 Nov 1;12(2):/j/ijb.2016.12.issue-2/ijb-2015-0039/ijb-2015-0039.xml. doi: 10.1515/ijb-2015-0039. PubMed 27838682 ↗
  • Cork RC, Vaughan RW, Humphrey LS. Precision and accuracy of intraoperative temperature monitoring. Anesth Analg. 1983 Feb;62(2):211-4. PubMed 6829923 ↗
  • Torossian A. Thermal management during anaesthesia and thermoregulation standards for the prevention of inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2008 Dec;22(4):659-68. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2008.07.006. PubMed 19137809 ↗
  • Matsukawa T, Sessler DI, Sessler AM, Schroeder M, Ozaki M, Kurz A, Cheng C. Heat flow and distribution during induction of general anesthesia. Anesthesiology. 1995 Mar;82(3):662-73. doi: 10.1097/00000542-199503000-00008. PubMed 7879935 ↗
  • Sessler DI. Temperature monitoring and perioperative thermoregulation. Anesthesiology. 2008 Aug;109(2):318-38. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e31817f6d76. PubMed 18648241 ↗
  • Sessler DI. Perioperative thermoregulation and heat balance. Lancet. 2016 Jun 25;387(10038):2655-2664. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00981-2. Epub 2016 Jan 8. PubMed 26775126 ↗

Study documents

PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — Deidentified individual participant temperature measurement data, baseline characteristics, and covariate data will be made available to qualified researchers following publication of the primary results in a peer-reviewed journal, subject to a data sharing agreement. Requests should be directed to the principal investigator.

Supporting information: Study protocol

Time frame: Starting 6 months after publication of the primary manuscript; available for 5 years thereafter

Access criteria: Qualified researchers submitting a methodologically sound research proposal. Requests will be reviewed by the Principal Investigator. A signed data sharing agreement is required. Data will be provided in de-identified format via secure file transfer.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Start is estimated for Aug 2026; primary completion for Feb 2027, 6 months later.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Aug 1, 2026
First posted
Aug 6, 2026
StartEst.
Aug 10, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Feb 28, 2027
CompletionEst.
Apr 30, 2027
Last update
Aug 6, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 6, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07749209
Responsible party
Thepakorn Sathitkarnmanee (Associate Professor, Khon Kaen University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 6, 2026
Start date
Aug 10, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Feb 28, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Apr 30, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 6, 2026

Study contacts

Thepakorn Sathitkarnmanee, MD
Contact
thepakorns@gmail.com
66819547622
Sirirat Tribuddharat, MD, PhD
Contact
sirirat.tribuddharat@gmail.com
66816205920

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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