Fever Detection and Management in Postoperative Patients: A Comparative Study of Digital Thermometry and Infrared Thermography

• Infrared thermography (IRT) provides comparable accuracy to digital thermometry (DT) for fever detection, with high sensitivity (95.2%) and specificity (98.1%). • IRT enables earlier fever detection (within 30 minutes) compared to DT (up to 2 hours), facilitating prompt clinical intervention. • IRT significantly reduces measurement time by 80% and improves patient comfort, with 90% patient preference. • The strong correlation and agreement between IRT and DT support IRT as a viable non-contact alternative for continuous postoperative temperature monitoring.