Abstract
In recent years, the incidence of frostbite has increased among healthy young adults who practice winter sports (skiing, mountaineering, ice climbing and technical climbing/alpinism) at both the professional and amateur levels. Moreover, given that the population most frequently affected is healthy and active, frostbite supposes a substantial interruption of their normal activity and in most cases is associated with long-term sequelae. It particularly has a higher impact when the affected person’s daily activities require exposure to cold environments, as either sports practices or work activities in which low temperatures are a constant (ski patrols, mountain guides, avalanche forecasters, workers in the cold chain, etc.). Clinical experience with humans shows a limited reversibility of injuries via potential tissue regeneration, which can be fostered with optimal medical management. Data were collected from 92 frostbitten patients in order to evaluate factors that represent a risk of amputation after severe frostbite. Mountain range, years of expertise in winter mountaineering, time elapsed before rewarming and especially altitude were the most important factors for a poor prognosis.
Highlights
Frostbite is a type of cold-related injury caused by the exposure of a part of the body to temperatures below the freezing point of the tissue, which is estimated to be −0.55 ◦ C
We performed a retrospective study of data from 92 patients (74 men, 18 women) aged 33.1 ± 8.5 years, with 12.3 ± 9.5 years of mountaineering experience in winter conditions, who had recovered from acute frostbite injury regardless of the presence or absence of long-term sequelae
The perception of fatigue prior to the frostbite incident was recorded on a scale ranging from 0 to 10, suggesting a tendency towards correlation with the amputation group, this did not reach statistical significance (6.9 ± 2.4 (A) vs. 6.0 ± 2.3 (NA); p = 0.083)
Summary
Frostbite is a type of cold-related injury caused by the exposure of a part of the body to temperatures below the freezing point of the tissue, which is estimated to be −0.55 ◦ C. Maximal vasoconstriction in hands and feet is reached when their temperature drops to 15 ◦ C. This is followed by local protective cycles of vasodilation if cooling persists [2], but leads to progressive local ischaemia if exposure continues. Frostbite is an injury that involves local ischaemia, cell injury and both local oedema and thrombotic events related to reperfusion of tissue damaged due to cold [4,5].
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