Role of thermography in the assessment of infraorbital nerve injury after malar fractures.

We studied 45 patients with malar fractures who had some degree of infraorbital nerve deficit. Thermographic facial images failed to show any substantial changes in the temperature profiles of the affected and the normal control sides in relation to reco very of their facial sensation. Although some patients who had thermography on the day of injury showed significant temperature differences between the affected and the normal sides, these differences were probably the result of the acute inflammatory ch anges caused by the injury. We suggest that infrared thermography has little place in the assessment of infraorbital nerve deficits.