Body temperature and esthesia in individuals with stroke.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Stroke sequelae often involve somatosensory deficits, impacting patients' quality of life.
• The relationship between body temperature, tactile sensibility, and sensorimotor recovery in stroke survivors requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the associations among tactile sensibility, cutaneous temperature, subjective temperature perception, and sensorimotor recovery in patients with stroke sequelae.
• To determine if cutaneous temperature influences tactile sensation and motor function recovery post-stroke.

Main Methods:

• 86 patients with stroke sequelae underwent assessment using infrared thermography and monofilament esthesiometry for tactile sensibility.
• Motor recovery was evaluated using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA).
• Patients were grouped based on self-reported perception of temperature difference, and correlation tests were applied.

Main Results:

• No clinically relevant association was found between tactile sensibility and cutaneous foot temperature, irrespective of subjective temperature perception.
• Sensorimotor recovery (FMA) correlated significantly with inter-limb differences in sensibility and tactile sensibility.
• A significant association between cutaneous temperature differences and tactile sensibility was not observed, independent of subjective perception.

Conclusions:

• While sensorimotor recovery in stroke patients is associated with tactile sensibility and temperature differences, tactile sensibility itself is not directly linked to cutaneous temperature.
• These findings suggest that interventions targeting sensorimotor deficits post-stroke should consider both tactile and thermal aspects, though their direct interrelation is complex.