• R Norman Harden, Christine M Gagnon, Michael Gallizzi, Anjum S Khan, and Devon Newman.
• The Center for Pain Studies, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. nharden@ric.org
• Pain Pract. 2008 Sep 1; 8 (5): 342-7.

ObjectiveTo test the hypothesis that distal residual limbs (DRLs) have significant vasomotor abnormalities.DesignComparative surface temperature studies of DRLs using paired samples (DRL vs. similar site on intact contralateral limb).Subjects/PatientsThirty-six volunteer subjects with unilateral, upper or lower limb amputations were recruited and evaluated at a pain research center in an urban academic rehabilitation facility.MethodsOur main outcomes were subjects' residual limb temperature as measured by quantitative infrared telethermography (qIRT), temperature strips, and examiner's palpation, compared with the contralateral limb.ResultsThe qIRT showed that the DRLs were significantly cooler than the corresponding area of the contralateral intact limbs (P < 0.01). The difference using temperature strips supported this finding (P < 0.05); while on physical examination, 39% of the residual limbs were perceived by the examiner as cooler than the corresponding unaffected limbs.ConclusionsDRLs as measured by qIRT were significantly cooler than the corresponding area of the contralateral intact limbs. A better understanding of these findings may be important in elucidating the pathophysiology of relevant clinical features such as a potential sympathetic component of postamputation pain.

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