This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Oerlemans, H M. Articles by Goris, R J. A Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Oerlemans, H M. Articles by Goris, R J. A Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Objective and subjective assessments of temperature differences between the hands in reflex sympathetic dystrophy

Allied Health Services, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Roberto SGM Perez

Department of Anaesthesiology, Free University Hospital Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rob AB Oostendorp

Dutch National Institute of Allied Health Professions, Amersfoort, The Netherlands and Free University of Brussels, Belgium, The Netherlands

R Jan A Goris

Department of Surgery, University Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Objective: A difference in temperature between the affected and normal extremity is one of the signs or symptoms of reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD). These temperature differences are scored anamnestically, by palpation, or by measurements. We investigated the relationship between objective and subjective differences in skin temperature between the hands.

Subjects and design: Fifty-one patients with RSD of one upper extremity participated (mean age 55 years, range 18–80). In the first 16 we investigated the reliability of the visual analogue scale (VAS) for recording perceived differences in skin temperature. In the remaining 35 patients the relationship between the VAS and objective infrared radiometry of the hands was investigated.

Setting: Outpatients clinics of two university hospitals.

Results: The VAS was found to be reliable in terms of response stability. There was no significant correlation between the objective and subjective outcomes.

Conclusions: There is lack of correspondence between objective and subjective temperature measurements, which may be due to a normal discrepancy between objective and percieved temperature, and/or to alterations in perception due to RSD.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 13, No. 5, 430-438 (1999)
DOI: 10.1191/026921599670196521


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?