title: The application of infrared thermography in the assessment of patients with coccygodynia before and after manual therapy combined with diathermy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examines the potential usefulness of a novel thermal imaging technique in the assessment of local physiologic responses before and after conservative therapies for coccygodynia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with coccygodynia were selected on the basis of detailed history taking, clinical examination, and dynamic series radiography. They underwent therapeutic modalities consisting of 6 to 8 sessions of manual medicine treatments (massage of the levators followed by Maigne's manipulative technique) and external physiotherapy (short-wave diathermy) 3 times a week for 8 weeks. We performed the assessments with numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) and infrared thermography (IRT) before treatment and at 12 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 53 patients (6 males and 47 females) ranging from 18 to 71 years of age and clinically diagnosed with coccygodynia received the full course of therapy and assessments. There were significant differences in both NPRS and surface temperature obtained by IRT in the 12-week follow-up (P < .05). The correlation between NPRS improvement and temperature decrement was significantly high (r = 0.67, P < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study shows that IRT can objectively show the decrement of surface temperatures correlating with changes in subjective pain intensity after treatment of coccygodynia. With the advantages of being painless, noninvasive, and easy to repeat, IRT appears to be useful as a quantifiable tool for monitoring the dynamics of the disease activity in coccygodynia.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chin-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Kwong-Leung
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Hung-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Mao-Hsiung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Tien-Wen
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chia-Hsin
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002684:Chiropractic / Q000379:methods*; D003050:Coccyx / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003972:Diathermy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059408:Pain Management; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult