Background
Pain and autonomic dysfunction are prominent symptoms in some patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Infrared thermography (IRT) has been used to evaluate CTS by measuring the cutaneous temperature and sympathetic vasomotor function.
Methods
This study enrolled the 66 hands of 33 subjects, some of which had clinical CTS and the others were healthy. The enrolled patients completed the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) and Historical-Objective scale, and underwent nerve conduction studies (NCSs) and IRT. Skin temperature was measured at the fingertips and the thenar and hypothenar regions in each hand. We analyzed (1) the correlations between self-reported severity, physician-assessed severity, and test results, and (2) the sensitivity and specificity of IRT in diagnosing CTS.
Results
No significant correlation was observed between the results of the BCTQ, NCS, and IRT. IRT had a low sensitivity and high specificity in diagnosing CTS.
Conclusions
IRT cannot replace NCS in diagnosing CTS, nor did it provide an advantage in combination with NCS. However, lower temperatures at the median nerve in some hands with moderate-to-severe CTS suggested the involvement of sympathetic nerve fiber function. Follow-up studies with a larger-scale and complementary design are required to elucidate the relationships.

Citations

• Infrared medical thermography, medical applications, and its basic principles: A review
  Ali Faisal Abdulkareem, Auns Qusai Hashim, N. Aldahan, A.J. Ramadhan
  BIO Web of Conferences.2024; 97: 00140.     CrossRef