Sammanfattning
BACKGROUND:
Cold injuries are rare but important causes of hospitalization. We aimed to identify the magnitude of
cold injury hospitalization, and assess causes, associated factors and treatment routines in a
subarctic region.
METHODS:
In this retrospective analysis of hospital records from the 4 northernmost counties in Sweden, cases
from 2000-2007 were identified from the hospital registry by diagnosis codes for accidental
hypothermia, frostbite, and cold-water drowning. Results were analyzed for pre-hospital site events,
clinical events in-hospital, and complications observed with mild (temperature 34.9 - 32°C), moderate
(31.9 - 28°C) and severe (<28°C), hypothermia as well as for frostbite and cold-water drowning.
RESULTS:
From the 362 cases, average annual incidences for hypothermia, frostbite, and cold-water drowning
were estimated to be 3.4/100,000, 1.5/100,000, and 0.8/100,000 inhabitants, respectively. Annual
frequencies for hypothermia hospitalizations increased by approximately 3 cases/year during the
study period. Twenty percent of the hypothermia cases were mild, 40% moderate, and 24% severe.
For 12%, the lowest documented core temperature was 35°C or higher, for 4% there was no
temperature documented. Body core temperature was seldom measured in pre-hospital locations. Of
362 cold injury admissions, 17 (5%) died in hospital related to their injuries. Associated co-factors
and co-morbidities included ethanol consumption, dementia, and psychiatric diagnosis.
CONCLUSIONS:
The incidence of accidental hypothermia seems to be increasing in this studied sub-arctic region.
Likely associated factors are recognized (ethanol intake, dementia, and psychiatric diagnosis).