Hyperthermia associated with spinal radiculopathy as determined by digital infrared thermographic imaging

Abstract

In general, in digital infrared thermographic imaging (DITI) of patients with unilateral spinal radicular pain, the thermal pattern of the extremities of the side of lesion shows hypothermia compared to the opposite, intact side. However, sometimes, DITI shows hyperthermia on the side of the lesion, and this variation can cause confusion. We compared the data of both hypothermia and hyperthermia patients to clarify the factors determining different thermal characteristics in spinal radiculopathy.We retrospectively collected data from patients who underwent DITI at a single center. The final cohort (n = 224) was allocated into 2 groups, a hypothermia group (n = 180) or a hyperthermia group (n = 44). We compared the various factors, including demographic factors and symptom-related factors, that might affect the results of DITI.Except the presence of trauma history (13.9% vs 31.8%, odds ratio 2.893, P = .008), no significant intergroup difference was found in baseline demographic factors, including age, gender, diabetes mellitus, spinal level of pathology, and intervention history. Among symptom-related factors, in the hyperthermia group, the symptom duration was shorter (10.64 weeks [95% confidence interval (CI) 8.36-13.04] vs 2.10 weeks [95% CI 1.05-3.53], P < .001) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of radicular pain was higher (4.23 ± 1.29 vs 5.18 ± 1.40, P < .001) than in the hypothermia group. Also, in the regression analysis, significant factors for hyperthermia include the presence of trauma history, shorter symptom duration (cut-off value 2.50 weeks or less) and higher VAS of radicular pain (cut-off value 4.50 or more).In patients with trauma history, acute phase, and severe radicular pain, hyperthermia in DITI is not unusual and careful interpretation of the DITI results is necessary for proper diagnosis and treatment decisions in spinal radiculopathy.