title: Role of thermography in the assessment of infraorbital nerve injury after malar fractures.
abstract: We studied 45 patients with malar fractures who had some degree of infraorbital nerve deficit. Thermographic facial images failed to show any substantial changes in the temperature profiles of the affected and the normal control sides in relation to reco very of their facial sensation. Although some patients who had thermography on the day of injury showed significant temperature differences between the affected and the normal sides, these differences were probably the result of the acute inflammatory ch anges caused by the injury. We suggest that infrared thermography has little place in the assessment of infraorbital nerve deficits.
authors.affiliation: Professor of Dental Surgery, Department of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology, The Queen's University of Belfast, School of Dentistry, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: McGimpsey
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vaidya
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Biagioni
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lamey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D020209:Cranial Nerve Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009915:Orbit / Q000293:injuries*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013817:Thermography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015051:Zygomatic Fractures / Q000150:complications*