| Effect of Tepid Massage and Antipyretics in the Management of Fever at the Emergency Department |
| Hyung Min Lee, Myung Chun Kim, Young Gwan Ko |
| Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea. |
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| ABSTRACT |
PURPOSE:
Fever is the single most common problem in children visiting the emergency department. Fever is treated with a variety of methods, including the recommended combination of tepid massage, and antipyretics. We compared the effects of antipyretics and tepid massage for the management of febrile children.
METHODS:
We conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled study to assess 49 children who visited to the ED, Kyung Hee Medical Center, with complaints of fever. Ages ranged from 3 to 60 months. Patients were grouped into one of the following three treatment groups: 1) acetaminophen only, 2) tepid massage only, and 3) acetaminophen and tepid massage.
We measured body temperature at 0 and 30 minutes after management.
RESULTS:
The mean temperature at 30 minutes had decreased by initial temperature 0.58degrees C, 0.48degrees C, and 0.90degrees C for groups 1), 2), and 3), respectively.
Although body temperature for group 3) decreased to a greater degree than it did in the other groups, the differences were not statistically significant.
CONCLUSION:
Although tepid massage have been recommended for managing fever, their effect is still uncertain, so they are not recommended, especially in the cases of crowded emergency rooms. |
| Key words:
Fever, Antipyretics, Massage |
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