Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study.
Background Neuropathic pain (NP) is one of the main complications of leprosy, and its management is challenging. Infrared thermography (IRT) has been shown to be effective in the evaluation of peripheral autonomic function resulting from microcirculation flow changes in painful syndromes. This study...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:69a063b7bcf5428a95643ca730d70588 2023-05-15T15:16:41+02:00 Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. Liliane Marques de Pinho Tiago Diogo Fernandes Dos Santos Douglas Eulálio Antunes Letícia Marques Pinho Tiago Isabela Maria Bernardes Goulart 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 https://doaj.org/article/69a063b7bcf5428a95643ca730d70588 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 https://doaj.org/article/69a063b7bcf5428a95643ca730d70588 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Iss 9, p e0009794 (2021) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 2022-12-31T11:29:28Z Background Neuropathic pain (NP) is one of the main complications of leprosy, and its management is challenging. Infrared thermography (IRT) has been shown to be effective in the evaluation of peripheral autonomic function resulting from microcirculation flow changes in painful syndromes. This study used IRT to map the skin temperature on the hands and feet of leprosy patients with NP. Methodology/principal findings This cross-sectional study included 20 controls and 55 leprosy patients, distributed into 29 with NP (PWP) and 26 without NP (PNP). Thermal images of the hands and feet were captured with infrared camera and clinical evaluations were performed. Electroneuromyography (ENMG) was used as a complementary neurological exam. Instruments used for the NP diagnosis were visual analog pain scale (VAS), Douleur Neuropathic en 4 questions (DN4), and simplified neurological assessment protocol. The prevalence of NP was 52.7%. Pain intensity showed that 93.1% of patients with NP had moderate/severe pain. The most frequent DN4 items in individuals with NP were numbness (86.2%), tingling (86.2%) and electric shocks (82.7%). Reactional episodes type 1 were statistically significant in the PWP group. Approximately 81.3% of patients showed a predominance of multiple mononeuropathy in ENMG, 79.6% had sensory loss, and 81.4% showed some degree of disability. The average temperature in the patients' hands and feet was slightly lower than in the controls, but without a significant difference. Compared to controls, all patients showed significant temperature asymmetry in almost all points assessed on the hands, except for two palmar points and one dorsal point. In the feet, there was significant asymmetry in all points, indicating a greater involvement of the lower limbs. Conclusion IRT confirmed the asymmetric pattern of leprosy neuropathy, indicating a change in the function of the autonomic nervous system, and proving to be a useful method in the approach of pain. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15 9 e0009794 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Liliane Marques de Pinho Tiago Diogo Fernandes Dos Santos Douglas Eulálio Antunes Letícia Marques Pinho Tiago Isabela Maria Bernardes Goulart Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background Neuropathic pain (NP) is one of the main complications of leprosy, and its management is challenging. Infrared thermography (IRT) has been shown to be effective in the evaluation of peripheral autonomic function resulting from microcirculation flow changes in painful syndromes. This study used IRT to map the skin temperature on the hands and feet of leprosy patients with NP. Methodology/principal findings This cross-sectional study included 20 controls and 55 leprosy patients, distributed into 29 with NP (PWP) and 26 without NP (PNP). Thermal images of the hands and feet were captured with infrared camera and clinical evaluations were performed. Electroneuromyography (ENMG) was used as a complementary neurological exam. Instruments used for the NP diagnosis were visual analog pain scale (VAS), Douleur Neuropathic en 4 questions (DN4), and simplified neurological assessment protocol. The prevalence of NP was 52.7%. Pain intensity showed that 93.1% of patients with NP had moderate/severe pain. The most frequent DN4 items in individuals with NP were numbness (86.2%), tingling (86.2%) and electric shocks (82.7%). Reactional episodes type 1 were statistically significant in the PWP group. Approximately 81.3% of patients showed a predominance of multiple mononeuropathy in ENMG, 79.6% had sensory loss, and 81.4% showed some degree of disability. The average temperature in the patients' hands and feet was slightly lower than in the controls, but without a significant difference. Compared to controls, all patients showed significant temperature asymmetry in almost all points assessed on the hands, except for two palmar points and one dorsal point. In the feet, there was significant asymmetry in all points, indicating a greater involvement of the lower limbs. Conclusion IRT confirmed the asymmetric pattern of leprosy neuropathy, indicating a change in the function of the autonomic nervous system, and proving to be a useful method in the approach of pain. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Liliane Marques de Pinho Tiago Diogo Fernandes Dos Santos Douglas Eulálio Antunes Letícia Marques Pinho Tiago Isabela Maria Bernardes Goulart |
author_facet |
Liliane Marques de Pinho Tiago Diogo Fernandes Dos Santos Douglas Eulálio Antunes Letícia Marques Pinho Tiago Isabela Maria Bernardes Goulart |
author_sort |
Liliane Marques de Pinho Tiago |
title |
Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. |
title_short |
Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. |
title_full |
Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: A cross-sectional study. |
title_sort |
assessment of neuropathic pain in leprosy patients with relapse or treatment failure by infrared thermography: a cross-sectional study. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 https://doaj.org/article/69a063b7bcf5428a95643ca730d70588 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 15, Iss 9, p e0009794 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 https://doaj.org/article/69a063b7bcf5428a95643ca730d70588 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009794 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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9 |
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e0009794 |
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