Watts Arun T, Boyle Anne Mp, Kutuzov Vladislav, Warner Christian, Staniland Tim, Barlow Gavin, Sharma Hemant
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull, England, United Kingdom.
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull, United Kingdom.
Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr. 2024 Sep-Dec;19(3):141-148. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10080-1630. Epub 2025 Mar 20.
Technological advances have made infrared thermography (IRT) sensitive, noncontact, and low cost for medical applications and it is used in a range of fields. A widening body of research has investigated IRT in the orthopaedic setting, including the investigation of orthopaedic infection. Infrared thermography could provide a rapid, low-cost, objective, noncontact technique to aid in the diagnosis of orthopaedic infections.
Electronic searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE from 2000 to 2024 were made. The search strategy aimed to include all studies in adults investigating the use of IRT in orthopaedic and bone or joint trauma patients and those studies which provide baseline values, including in patients with infection. Articles were screened by title and abstract by two authors. Bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale tool. Studies were heterogeneous; therefore, results were summarised in tables and presented as a narrative synthesis.
The search identified 36 studies. Studies have shown that IRT is useful in fracture or soft tissue diagnosis, detecting periprosthetic infection, and it may have a role in screening healthy subjects. There is still considerable variance in the application of IRT in the trauma and orthopaedic setting.
Infrared thermography is sensitive to skin temperature changes in infected limbs following orthopaedic surgery and may be used as a low-cost, noncontact, irradiation-free screening tool to identify orthopaedic infection in the future. Future studies should identify the cost effectiveness of IRT in clinical practice. Barriers include the low incidence of orthopaedic infection and large number of confounders that can affect IRT readings.
Infrared thermography can provide rapid information that may be a useful adjunct in the emergency department or outpatient clinics to diagnose a range of orthopaedic conditions, including infection. Current research has yet to demonstrate clinical significance.
Watts AT, Boyle AMP, Kutuzov V, . Current Use of Infrared Thermography in Orthopaedic and Bone or Joint Trauma Patients-Can We Identify Postoperative Infection? A Narrative Systematic Review. Strategies Trauma Limb Reconstr 2024;19(3):141-148.
技术进步使红外热成像（IRT）在医学应用中具备敏感性、非接触性且成本低廉的特点，它被应用于一系列领域。越来越多的研究在骨科环境中对IRT展开了调查，包括对骨科感染的研究。红外热成像能够提供一种快速、低成本、客观、非接触的技术，以辅助骨科感染的诊断。
对2000年至2024年期间的MEDLINE、CINAHL和EMBASE进行了电子检索。检索策略旨在纳入所有针对成人的研究，这些研究调查了IRT在骨科及骨或关节创伤患者中的应用，以及那些提供基线值的研究，包括感染患者的研究。由两名作者通过标题和摘要对文章进行筛选。使用纽卡斯尔 - 渥太华量表工具评估偏倚。研究具有异质性；因此，结果以表格形式总结并进行叙述性综合呈现。
检索共识别出36项研究。研究表明IRT在骨折或软组织诊断、检测假体周围感染方面有用，并且可能在筛查健康受试者中发挥作用。IRT在创伤和骨科环境中的应用仍存在相当大的差异。
红外热成像对骨科手术后感染肢体的皮肤温度变化敏感，未来可能用作低成本、非接触、无辐射的筛查工具来识别骨科感染。未来的研究应确定IRT在临床实践中的成本效益。障碍包括骨科感染的低发病率以及大量可能影响IRT读数的混杂因素。
红外热成像可以提供快速信息，在急诊科或门诊诊所中可能是诊断一系列骨科病症（包括感染）的有用辅助手段。目前的研究尚未证明其临床意义。
瓦茨AT，博伊尔AMP，库图佐夫V等。红外热成像在骨科及骨或关节创伤患者中的当前应用——我们能否识别术后感染？一项叙述性系统评价。创伤肢体重建策略2024；19(3)：141 - 148。
