Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40690661›Full record

Observational studyJMIR formative research2025

Digital Infrared Thermographic Imaging for Limb Salvage in Patients at Risk of Amputation: Prospective Observational Study.

Víctor Manuel Loza-González, Eleazar Samuel Kolosovas-Machuca, Patricia Aurea Cervantes-Báez, José Luis Ramírez-GarcíaLuna, Edgar Guevara, Mario Aurelio Martínez-Jiménez

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in JMIR formative research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Víctor Manuel Loza-GonzálezDoctorado Institucional en Ingeniería y Ciencia de Materiales (DICIM-UASLP), Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0003-2753-7935
Eleazar Samuel Kolosovas-MachucaCoordinación para la Innovación y Aplicación de la Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Sierra Leona No. 550 Col. Lomas 2da. Sección, Planta Baja, San Luis Potosí, 78210, Mexico, 52 4448262300 ext 8433.ORCID 0000-0002-7583-8655
Patricia Aurea Cervantes-BáezBurn Care Unit and Wound Care Center, Hospital Central Dr. Ignacio Morones Prieto, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.ORCID 0009-0004-5654-4944
José Luis Ramírez-GarcíaLunaDivision of Experimental Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3953-9762
Edgar GuevaraCoordinación para la Innovación y Aplicación de la Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Sierra Leona No. 550 Col. Lomas 2da. Sección, Planta Baja, San Luis Potosí, 78210, Mexico, 52 4448262300 ext 8433.ORCID 0000-0002-2313-2810
Mario Aurelio Martínez-JiménezBurn Care Unit and Wound Care Center, Hospital Central Dr. Ignacio Morones Prieto, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.ORCID 0000-0002-8905-849X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Scores and prediction models such as the mangled extremity severity score (MESS) for trauma and the Wound, Ischemia, and foot Infection (WIfI) classification for diabetic foot ulcers help in the decision-making process for amputation. However, these tools can be subjective as they depend on the experience of the medical staff applying them. Objective: This study aimed to assess the impact of temperature measurement using infrared thermal imaging in extremity salvage in patients at risk of limb amputation. Methods: We included 29 patients who sought a second opinion after an amputation recommendation. Infrared thermographic images were acquired to measure the temperature difference (ΔT) between the injured and uninjured limbs. For patients with salvaged limbs, we provided clinical follow-up for up to 12 weeks. Results: Of the 29 patients enrolled in the study, 27 limbs were salvaged. Thermographic imaging allowed the distinction into two groups: the first group of 18 patients with mean ΔT value of -3.6 °C (SD 1.99 °C) , and the second group of 9 patients with mean ΔT of 3.36 °C (SD 2.71 °C). None of the patients in either group showed progression in ΔT values within the first 5 days; at the twelfth week, ΔT values approached 0 °C at wound closure. Of the two patients who required amputation, one showed an initial ΔT of -4.3 °C, which worsened to -5 °C by the fifth day, and the other patient showed an initial ΔT of -4.5 °C, which worsened to -5.8 °C by the fifth day. Conclusions: Digital infrared thermography is a tool that may help guide limb salvage in patients with uncertain clinical diagnoses. This imaging modality allows visualization of thermal differences and patterns derived from thermal changes in patients at risk of limb amputation.

Indexed as

Amputation, SurgicalDiabetic FootLimb SalvageThermographyAdultAgedFemaleHumansInfrared RaysMaleMiddle AgedProspective Studiesamputationdiabetic footinfrared thermographylimb salvagetraumatic injuries

Identifiers

PMID40690661
PMCPMC12303360

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.