Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan-Feb;29(1):36-41.
doi: 10.1097/BCR.0b013e31815f2b63.

Cutaneous vasoconstriction during whole-body and local cooling in grafted skin five to nine months postsurgery

Scott L Davis  1 , Manabu Shibasaki, David A Low, Jian Cui, David M Keller, Gary F Purdue, John L Hunt, Brett D Arnoldo, Karen J Kowalske, Craig G Crandall
Affiliations

Cutaneous vasoconstriction during whole-body and local cooling in grafted skin five to nine months postsurgery

Scott L Davis et al. J Burn Care Res. 2008 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that skin grafting (5-9 months after surgery) impairs sympathetically mediated cutaneous vasoconstrictor responsiveness. Skin blood flow (laser-Doppler flowmetry) was assessed in grafted skin and adjacent healthy control skin in fourteen subjects (seven male, seven female) during indirect whole-body cooling (ie, cooling the entire body, except the area where skin blood flow was assessed), as well as local cooling (ie, only cooling the area where skin blood flow was assessed). Whole-body cooling was performed by perfusing 5 degrees C water through a water perfusion suit for 3 minutes. Local cooling was performed on a separate visit using a custom Peltier cooling device, which decreased local skin temperature from 39 degrees C to 19 in 5 degrees C decrements in 15-minute stages. Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) was calculated from the ratio of skin blood flow to mean arterial pressure. Indirect whole-body cooling decreased CVC from baseline (DeltaCVC) similarly (P = 0.17) between grafted skin (DeltaCVC = -0.23 +/- 0.04 au/mm Hg) and adjacent healthy skin (DeltaCVC = -0.16 +/- 0.02 au/mm Hg). Likewise, decreasing local skin temperature from 39 to 19 degrees C resulted in similar decreases (P = .82) in CVC between grafted skin (DeltaCVC = -1.11 +/- 0.18 au/mm Hg) and adjacent healthy skin (DeltaCVC = -1.06 +/- 0.18 au/mm Hg). Appropriate cutaneous vasoconstriction in grafted skin to both indirect whole-body and local cooling indicates re-innervation of the cutaneous vasoconstrictor system at the graft site. These data suggest that persons with significant skin grafting may have a normal capacity to regulate body temperature during cold exposure by cutaneous vasoconstriction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) expressed as absolute units (panel A) and percentage of CVC maximum (panel B) during normothermia (white bars) and whole-body cooling (black bars) in grafted skin (graft) and adjacent control skin (control). * indicates difference from normothermia (P < .05). † indicates difference from Control (P < .05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) expressed as absolute units (panel A) and as change from 39 °C (panel B) during local cooling in grated skin (graft) and adjacent control skin (control). Local cooling caused clear decreases in CVC at both the graft and adjacent control sites, with the magnitude of the decrease in CVC not being affected by skin grafting.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Johnson JM, Proppe DW. Cardiovascular adjustments to heat stress. In: Fregley MJ, Blatteis CM, editors. Handbook of physiology; Section 4: Environmental physiology. New York: Oxford University Press; 1996. pp. 215–243.
    1. Rowell LB. Human circulation: regulation during physical stress. New York: Oxford University Press; 1986.
    1. Roddie IC. Circulation to skin and adipose tissue. In: Shepherd JT, Abboud FM, editors. Handbook of physiology; Section 2: The cardiovascular system. New York: Oxford University Press; 1983. pp. 285–317.
    1. Roddie IC, Shepherd JT, Whelan RF. The contribution of constrictor and dilator nerves to the skin vasodilation during body heating. J Physiol (Lond) 1957;136:489–497. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Edholm OG, Fox RH, Macpherson RK. Vasomotor control of the cutaneous blood vessels in the human forearm. J Physiol (Lond) 1957;139:455–465. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types