title: Clinical application of infrared thermography in the diagnosis of appendicitis.
abstract: To determine the clinical usefulness of infrared skin temperatures in diagnosing appendicitis, the authors conducted a prospective study of 86 adult and pediatric emergency department (ED) patients presenting during a 4-month study period with acute right lower abdominal pain. Skin temperature readings (FirstTemp digital thermometer, Intelligent Medical Systems, Inc, Carlsbad, CA) were taken from the right lower abdominal quadrant and a corresponding position on the left. An unpaired t test was used to determine if there was a significant difference between the right and left lower quadrants in patients with appendicitis. Discharged patients were followed up by telephone to determine any subsequent morbidity. A total of 23 patients had appendicitis confirmed by surgery; 63 subjects had other medical diagnoses. There was no significant skin temperature differential between the lower abdominal quadrants in either patient group (0.0 degree C vs 0.1 degree C; P > .5). Three patients had a skin temperature on the right that was at least 1 degrees C warmer than on the left; none of these patients had appendicitis. The results suggest that infrared thermography is not a sensitive diagnostic test for acute appendicitis in the ED population.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Butterworth Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emery
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001831:Body Temperature; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012867:Skin; D013817:Thermography