Characterization of a three-phase response in gloved cold-stressed fingers

Abstract

Seven gloves were studied worn by eight sedentary subjects (six men and two women) exposed to cold-dry, C D, (mean dry bulb temperature Tdb = -17.2 degrees C; mean dew point temperature Tdp = -25.1 degrees C), and cold-wet, C-W, (Tdh = 0 degrees C; Tdp = -8.4 degrees C) conditions. Mean endurance times were 75 min for the C-D and 162 min for the C W conditions. A three-phase response pattern of the temperature in the fingers was characterized. Phase I comprised an initial period during which finger temperature remained close to the pre-exposed level, due to delayed vasoconstriction in the finger. Phase II involved an exponential-like decrease of finger temperature indicative of the onset of vasoconstriction in the finger. Phase III manifested periodic finger temperature changes due to cold induced vasodilatation (CIVD). Mean wave patterns for phase III indicated approximately 3.5 waves x h(-1) in the C D but only about 2 waves x h(-1) in the C-W condition. Extension of endurance time, due to CIVD, was defined as the difference in time between the actual end of the experiment and the time the finger-tip would have reached the set temperature endurance limit as extrapolated by a continued exponential drop. Three overall response patterns of fingers in the cold were characterized: type A exhibiting all 3 phases; type B1 or B2 exhibiting either phases I+ II or phases II+ III; and type C showing only phase II. Considerable inter- and intra-subject variability was found. In both test conditions the final physiological thermal states of the subjects were between comfortable and slightly uncomfortable but acceptable and thus did not correlate with the responses in the fingers.

Thermal responses to whole‐body cooling in air with special reference to arteriovenous anastomoses in fingers

“…Similarly, Shitzer et al . () noted inter‐individual variability in T f while wearing gloves in wet and dry cold, but the response was also related to the individual thermal stress level. In their study, differences in finger dimensions partly explained the variation between subjects.…”

Authors’ response to H. Daanen’s ‘cold-induced vasodilation’ letter

“…With regards to local air exposure, air temperatures ranging from 10 to ¡18°C have been used to cool the Wngers for 2 h in order to induce CIVD (Kramer and Schulze 1948). On the other hand, whole body exposures of 10°C (Montgomery and Williams 1977;Brajkovic and Ducharme 2006), 1°C (Steegmann Jr 1979), 0°C (Shitzer et al 1998a;Brajkovic and Ducharme 2006), ¡7°C (Santee et al 1990), ¡10°C (Brajkovic and Ducharme 2006), and ¡17°C (Shitzer et al 1991(Shitzer et al , 1998bShitzer 1998) lasting up to 2 h have been adopted as CIVDinducing techniques in humans. Experiments in rats have identiWed CIVDs in whole body exposures at ambient temperatures of 5 and 10°C (Berry et al 1984).…”

Effects of pressure, cold and gloves on hand skin temperature and manual performance of divers

“…It is also possible that the finger skin temperature response shown in Fig. 2 represents phases 1 and 2 of cooling described by Shitzer et al (1998). Most divers exhibited a relatively smooth decay of finger skin temperatures and did not reach the threshold temperature necessary to trigger a phase 3 CIVD response (Shitzer et al 1998).…”

“…2 represents phases 1 and 2 of cooling described by Shitzer et al (1998). Most divers exhibited a relatively smooth decay of finger skin temperatures and did not reach the threshold temperature necessary to trigger a phase 3 CIVD response (Shitzer et al 1998). Thus, subsequent smaller fluctuations in mean finger and hand skin temperatures likely reflect some flushing action due to the dynamic movements required for grip strength and manual dexterity tasks.…”

“…Sari et al (2004) found that protective gloves reduced hand heat losses in a cold air environment by 60-90% and that heat losses were 50-100% greater from the fingers than the palm and back of hand. Shitzer et al (1998) described a three phase response of finger skin temperature to hand cooling when wearing gloves: phase 1 in which temperature remains close to pre-exposure levels; phase 2 in which temperature falls exponentially; and phase 3 in which temperature fluctuates periodically due to cold induced vasodilation (CIVD). All subjects exhibited a phase 2 response, whereas only some subjects exhibited phase 1 and phase 3.…”