Residual Limbs of Amputees Are Significantly Cooler than Contralateral Intact Limbs

▪ : Objective: To test the hypothesis that distal residual limbs (DRLs) have significant vasomotor abnormalities. Design: Comparative surface temperature studies of DRLs using paired samples (DRL vs. similar site on intact contralateral limb). Subjects/Patients: Thirty‐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. Methods: Our 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. Results: The qIRT showed that the DRLs were significantly cooler than the corresponding area of the contralateral intact limbs (P