Digital thermography complements Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging for the diagnosis of quantified severe mesenteric traction syndrome — A prospective cohort study

August A. Olsen*, Stefan Burgdorf, Dennis Richard Bigler, Mette Siemsen, Eske K. Aasvang, Jens P. Goetze, Morten Bo Søndergaard Svendsen, Lars Bo Svendsen, Michael Patrick Achiam

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Introduction: The diagnosis of severe mesenteric traction syndrome (MTS) is based on assessing the developed degree of facial flushing. Only one validated objective diagnostic method, Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI), exists. However, this method is sensitive to distance, motion, and angulation. Digital thermography is known to correlate well with LSCI without the same limitations, but has never been tested in relation to MTS. This study aimed to examine the thermographic changes during the development of severe MTS and to calculate a cut-off value for identifying severe MTS. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed on patients planned for open esophagectomy and pancreatic surgery from March 2021 to April 2022. All patients underwent continuous measurement on their forehead using LSCI and digital thermography during the first hour of surgery. The validated LSCI cut-off value was used to grade the severity of MTS. Blood samples and hemodynamics were collected at predefined time points. Results: Fifty-seven patients were included. Patients developing severe MTS had increased facial skin temperature 15 min (p = 0.002) and 30 min into surgery (p < 0.001). A cut-off value for identifying severe MTS using thermography was identified (35.55 °C, p < 0.001). Patients identified as developing severe MTS using this cut-off value had a higher level of prostacyclin (p = 0.001) and lower systemic vascular resistance (p < 0.001) 15 min into surgery, as compared with patients not developing severe MTS. Conclusion: This study shows that digital thermography may complement LSCI in the objective identification of severe MTS.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104690
JournalMicrovascular Research
Volume154
Number of pages9
ISSN0026-2862
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

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© 2024 The Author(s)

Keywords

  • Digital thermography
  • Hemodynamics
  • Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging
  • Mesenteric traction syndrome
  • Prostacyclin
  • qsMTS
  • Surgery

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