Medical infrared thermography in odontogenic facial cellulitis as a clinical decision support tool. A technical note

Abstract

Background: Odontogenic cellulitis are frequent infections of the head and neck fascial spaces that can sometimes spread and be life-threatening, requiring urgent hospitalization. Early diagnosis of facial cellulitis with diffuse inflammatory process is crucial in patient management but not always obvious in the field. Medical infrared thermography (MIT) is a noninvasive tool increasingly used to evaluate skin temperature maps and delineate inflammatory lesions. Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of MIT to improve the clinical examination of patients with facial cellulitis. Methods: Image processing work was carried out to highlight the thermal gradient resulting from inflammation linked to infection, in 2 patients with facial cellulitis. Results: In real-time, MIT allowed to precisely locate the inflammatory focus linked to cellulitis with no propagation to danger areas such as infraorbital space or around pharyngeal axis. Conclusion: Here, we show the first cases using MIT as a powerful complementary tool in the clinical evaluation of patients with facial cellulitis. Significance: This technology could help optimize the hospitalization decision through a facilitated assessment of infection spread in head and neck tissues and helping to incision for drainage.