The Use of Infrared Thermography (IRT) in Burns Depth Assessment: A Diagnostic Accuracy Meta-Analysis

The timely diagnosis of burns depth is crucial to avoid unnecessary surgery and delays in adequate management of patients with burn injuries. Whilst it is mostly a clinical diagnosis, indocyanine green, laser Doppler imaging and infrared thermography have been used alongside clinical findings to support the diagnosis. Infrared thermography is a noninvasive technique which uses temperature differences to diagnose tissue burn depth. Our study aims to assess its use in differentiating between superficial and deep burns.

We conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis using electronic databases. We used a mixed-effects logistic regression bivariate model to estimate summary sensitivity and specificity and developed hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curves.

We identified 6 studies reporting a total of 197 burns, of which 92 were proven to be deep burns. The reference standard was clinical assessment at the time of injury and burn healing time. The pooled estimates for sensitivity and specificity were 0.84 (95% CI 0.71-0.92) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.56-0.89), respectively.

IRT is a promising burns assessment modality which may allow surgeons to correctly classify burn injuries at the time of presentation. This will allow a more efficient management of burns and timely surgical intervention.