Frost Bite Injury A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

Frostbite is the condition of injury to the skin and underlying tissues caused by extreme cold.
Frostbite is the most frequent freezing injury.
Frostbite is an injury that is induced by exposure of parts of the body to temperatures below freezing point.
The cold produces freezing of the skin and underlying tissues.
The fingers, toes and feet are most often involved but other extremities, such as the nose, ears and cheeks, can also form frostbite.
Causes
Frostbite happens when the skin and body tissues are exposed to cold temperature for a long period of time.
The patient tends more likely to develop frostbite if he or she:
1. Takes medicines called beta-blockers
2. Has poor blood supply to the legs
3. Smoke
4. Has diabetes
5. Has Raynaud syndrome
Normally the blood transports oxygen to all parts of the body so that the body tissues are maintained healthy.
During a protective response when the body has exposure to extreme cold, the blood vessels narrow (constrict) so that blood (and oxygen) are transferred away from the extremities to the vital organs to keep the body alive.
After a while, this inadequate blood supply and oxygen to the skin can begin to produce injury to the cells.
In the parts of the body involved by frostbite, the ice crystals form and cells and blood vessels become injured.
Blood clots can also develop in small blood vessels which will decrease the possibility of blood and oxygen getting to the affected tissues.
The probability of frostbite is raised when the patient has longer exposure to the cold temperatures.
Risk factors
Frostbite is not frequent.
Frostbite most often involves these groups of people:
1. Soldiers.
2. People who work outdoors in the cold.
3. Homeless people.
4. Winter outdoor sports people such as skiers and climbers.
5. Alcohol may make the drunk less obvious to the cold and hence develop frostbite
The different degrees of frostbite
1. First-degree frostbite just involves the epidermis.
2. Second-degree frostbite may involve the epidermis and part of the dermis.
3. Third-degree frostbite involves the epidermis, the dermis and the fatty tissue beneath the dermis.
4. Fourth-degree frostbite occupies the entire thickness of the skin, the tissues that are below the skin, and also the deeper tissues such as muscles, tendons and bone.
Symptoms of frostbite may be:
1. Pins and needles feeling, followed by numbness
2. Hard, pale, and cold skin that has been exposed to the cold for too long
3. Aching, throbbing or lack of feeling in the affected area
4. Red and extremely painful skin and muscle as the area thaws
Very severe frostbite may cause:
1. Blisters
2. Gangrene (blackened, dead tissue)
3. Damage to tendons, muscles, nerves, and bone
Diagnosis:
Frostbite is normally diagnosed by the normal features in someone who has been exposed to extreme, cold weather.
Scintigraphy and Bone Scans are occasionally used to evaluate the degree of frostbite and to determine how much tissue is injured
Treatment
The basic first aid for frostbite injuries is:
1. Shelter the person from the cold and move him or her to a warmer place.
2. Change wet clothing for dry clothing.
3. Keep the involved area air dry and wrapped
4. Try to make sure that the person is re-hydrated.
Give warm water to drink
Rapid re-warming can be done using heated water which should be kept at 37-39°C for 30 minutes
Re-warming can be very painful, hence anti-inflammatory painkillers are also given
Some 'clot-busting' medicines (thrombolytics) may be given in cases of deep frostbite to attempt to improve the blood supply to the involved area.
Surgery is required to remove dead tissue -debridement of injured tissue and amputation of dead fingers or toes

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Frostbite
Chapter

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Oct 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370341689

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Frost Bite Injury

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2017 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Frostbite, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat Frostbite)

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If the patient would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 amazon kindle books and 200 into Smashwords.com eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Frostbite injury

What is frostbite?

Frostbite is the condition of injury to the skin and underlying tissues caused by extreme cold.

Frostbite is the most frequent freezing injury.

Frostbite is an injury that is induced by exposure of parts of the body to temperatures below freezing point.

The cold produces freezing of the skin and underlying tissues.

The fingers, toes and feet are most often involved but other extremities, such as the nose, ears and cheeks, can also form frostbite.

What are the causes of frostbite?

Causes

Frostbite happens when the skin and body tissues are exposed to cold temperature for a long period of time.

The patient tends more likely to develop frostbite if he or she:

1. Takes medicines called beta-blockers

2. Has poor blood supply to the legs

3. Smoke

4. Has diabetes

5. Has Raynaud syndrome

Normally the blood transports oxygen to all parts of the body so that the body tissues are maintained healthy.

During a protective response when the body has exposure to extreme cold, the blood vessels narrow (constrict) so that blood (and oxygen) are transferred away from the extremities to the vital organs to keep the body alive.

After a while, this inadequate blood supply and oxygen to the skin can begin to produce injury to the cells.

In the parts of the body involved by frostbite, the ice crystals form and cells and blood vessels become injured.

Blood clots can also develop in small blood vessels which will decrease the