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Frostbite of the extremities affects two distinct groups of people: an ‘at-risk’ urban population, mainly the homeless, and persons exposing themselves to an arctic environment, i.e., climbers, polar explorers, etc.
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A localized cold-induced lesion, or frostbite, is defined as tissue injury resulting from the prolonged exposure of flesh to a temperature of less than 0°C.
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Improvement in the quality of textiles and clothing protections diminishes the impact of frostbite, yet it can still develop because of an insidious and painless onset.
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Frostbite injury most often involves the hands and feet, and less often the ears, nose and cheeks.
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Frostbite can result in catastrophic amputations, sometimes quite proximally on the affected limbs of previously healthy young men.
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A new classification of frostbite, based on initial clinical examination, has the advantage of establishing a long-term prognosis early on in the management of frostbite.
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Thrombolytic agents and prostacyclin used in the early phase of treatment of frostbite offer new hope to reduce the risk of amputation and sequelae from frostbite injury.
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Cauchy, E., Carron, S., Verhellen, R., Bernard, F. (2009). Frostbite Injury Management in Emergency. In: Revuz, J., Roujeau, JC., Kerdel, F.A., Valeyrie-Allanore, L. (eds) Life-Threatening Dermatoses and Emergencies in Dermatology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79339-7_24
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