Abstract
Visual and empirical assessments do not enable the early detection of wound deterioration or necroses. No suitable objective indicator for predicting poor wound-healing is currently available. We used infrared thermography to determine the association between wound temperature and pressure-wound healing. We examined patients with grades 2–4 pressure ulcers from a medical center in southern Taiwan and recorded the temperatures of the wound bed, periwound, and normal skin using infrared thermographic cameras. A total of 50 pressure ulcers and 248 infrared-thermography temperature records were analyzed. Normal skin temperature was not related to pressure ulcer wound healing. In a multivariate analysis, higher malnutrition universal-screening-tool scores were associated with poor wound-healing (p = 0.020), and higher periwound-temperature values were associated with better wound-healing (p = 0.028). In patients who had higher periwound-skin temperature than that of the wound bed, that result was also associated with better wound-healing (p = 0.002). Wound-bed and periwound temperatures differed significantly with the grade of the pressure ulcer, and a high periwound temperature was positively correlated with wound healing. Infrared thermography can objectively serve as indicators for assessing pressure-ulcer healing.
Highlights
Pressure-ulcer prevalence is about 0.23% in people aged over 64 years old and from6.7% to 12.6% in the population receiving home care [1,2]
Visual assessment is the most common method employed by medical personnel for evaluating wound healing among patients with pressure ulcers; this method provides limited information on wound necrosis or deterioration and has poor accuracy [3,4]
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of wound temperature measured using infrared thermography on pressure-ulcer wound healing
Summary
Pressure-ulcer prevalence is about 0.23% in people aged over 64 years old and from6.7% to 12.6% in the population receiving home care [1,2]. Visual assessment is the most common method employed by medical personnel for evaluating wound healing among patients with pressure ulcers; this method provides limited information on wound necrosis or deterioration and has poor accuracy [3,4]. Assessment tools such as the pressure ulcer scale for healing (PUSH) are limited to the assessment of wound progress [5]; they cannot be used to detect necrosis or infection at an early stage. Objective, rapid, and easy-to-interpret assessment tools for measuring wound changes are desirable
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