Wound Bed Temperature has Potential to Indicate Infection Status: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of wound bed temperature, measured using an IR camera, to aid in the clinical assessment of chronic wounds. The study captured thermal images from 267 patients with chronic wounds (diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers and arterial ulcers) with corresponding photographic images and clinical data. Temperature measurements were extracted from thermal images, focusing on both the centre of the wound and the surrounding periwound skin. Statistical analyses were employed to evaluate the relationship between wound temperature distribution and clinical diagnosis. The results showed a strong correlation between wound centre temperature and the average temperature across the entire wound (R² = 0.977). This indicates that a single-point measurement is representative of the entire wound, simplifying wound temperature assessment. A fair correlation was found between the temperature difference between the wound and periwound and the clinician's assessment of infection status (Pearson coefficient = 0.32). The study concludes that thermal imaging holds promise as a supplementary tool for clinicians in assessing chronic wound status, especially in cases where infection is unclear. It is a low-cost, non-contact, and easy-to-use technique.