Medical Infrared Thermography assistance in the surgical treatment of axillary Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A case report

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this case report is to highlight for the first time the way Medical Infrared Thermography can be a helpful tool to assist the surgeon in the surgical treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa inflammatory disease. METHODS: A 36-year-old man with a 7-year history of Hidradenitis Suppurativa presented inflammatory nodules in the left axilla area corresponding to Hurley stage II. Choice is made to surgically treat this patient using a wide excision protocol combined with a postoperative second intention healing. For the study purpose, an IR FLIR SC620 camera (FLIR Systems, Wilsonville, OR), having a high resolution pixel detector of 640 × 480 pixels for greater accuracy and higher resolution, has been used. RESULTS: For the first time in the literature, this case report on HS disease supports the idea that real-time medical infrared thermography may be helpful in establishing the true extent of disease preoperatively in the surgical room and in a similar manner, that this technique allows the surgeon to ensure all diseased lesions are removed during surgery. CONCLUSIONS: At least, medical infrared thermography seems to be a powerful tool to control the final wide surgical wound, in order to minimize recurrence risk of such a disease.