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

• Published in: Microvascular research 2024-07, Vol.154, p.104690, Article 104690
• Main Authors: Olsen, August A., Burgdorf, Stefan, Bigler, Dennis Richard, Siemsen, Mette, Aasvang, Eske K., Goetze, Jens P., Svendsen, Morten Bo Søndergaard, Svendsen, Lars Bo, Achiam, Michael Patrick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Digital thermography; Female; Hemodynamics; Humans; Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging; Male; Mesenteric traction syndrome; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Prostacyclin; qsMTS; Severity of Illness Index; Splanchnic Circulation; Surgery; Thermography - methods
• ISSN: 0026-2862; 1095-9319; 1095-9319
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mvr.2024.104690

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. 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. 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