Knee skin temperature response of patients with bilateral patellofemoral syndrome before and after heat and cold stress

• Published in: Journal of thermal biology 2023-07, Vol.115, p.103601-103601, Article 103601
• Main Authors: Trejo-Chavez, Omar, Priego-Quesada, Jose I., Gonzalez-Hernandez, Mayra P., Morales-Hernandez, Luis A., Cruz-Albarran, Irving A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cold stress; heat; heat stress; Medicine; Pain; Pathology; skin temperature; statistical analysis; Thermal asymmetry; Thermal image; Thermography
• ISSN: 0306-4565
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103601

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is characterized by the presence of pain in the front area of the knee, which occurs when performing common activities such as climbing stairs, and bending the knees, among others. The objective of this research was to evaluate the detection capability of infrared thermography in patients with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, in the baseline state, as well as after the application of thermal stress. The investigation was conducted in 48 patients, who were subdivided into four groups (n = 12). Two subgroups were healthy patients and two with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. For the diagnosis of the syndrome, a manual evaluation was performed using the Zohlen test and Q angle measurement. Subsequently, cold stress was applied for 10 min to a healthy subgroup and an experimental subgroup. The remaining two subgroups were subjected to heat stress for 15 min. Thermographic images of the lower extremities were acquired at seven time points, at baseline, immediately after application of thermal stress and then every 3 min until 15 min were completed. It was observed that patients presented Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome bilaterally. After statistical analysis, it was found that there were no significant differences in baseline temperature between the groups. However, for heat stress, a higher temperature was observed in the group with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (p