Thermography as a predictor of sacral pressure sores.
Ninety-one patients admitted to a geriatric unit with apparently undamaged sacral skin were examined by thermography. Nineteen per cent showed a thermal pattern consistent with occult skin damage, and 35% of these developed an overt pressure sore at the thermographically abnormal site within 10 days of admission. None of the remaining patients developed a sore within this time. Thermography can provide a more precise indication of the risk of early development of a sacral pressure sore than the Norton score.
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012445:Sacrococcygeal Region; D013817:Thermography