Bone Scan in Evaluation of Bone Viability in Severe Frostbite of the Hand
- PMID: 29142364
- PMCID: PMC5672768
- DOI: 10.4103/ijnm.IJNM_53_17
Bone Scan in Evaluation of Bone Viability in Severe Frostbite of the Hand
Abstract
A 39-year-old male presented to the emergency department (ED) with frostbite to the fingers of both hands. In the ED, he received warm baths, acetylsalicylic acid, clopidogrel, and heparin. A three-phase bone scintigraphy with technetium-99m-methylene diphosphonate revealed absent radiotracer uptake in distal phalanges of both hands. The patient received acetylsalicylic acid, clopidogrel and wound care for the next 5 days and made an excellent recovery with satisfactory wound healing in both hands. Early rapid rewarming and reperfusion can improve the prognosis significantly and therefore bone scan done within first 1-2 days may give spurious results.
Keywords: Bone scan; cold thermal injury; frostbite; hand.
Conflict of interest statement
There are no conflicts of interest.
Figures

Similar articles
-
The role of bone scanning in severe frostbite of the extremities: a retrospective study of 88 cases.Eur J Nucl Med. 2000 May;27(5):497-502. doi: 10.1007/s002590050534. Eur J Nucl Med. 2000. PMID: 10853803 Clinical Trial.
-
Diagnosis, characterisation and evaluation of treatment response of frostbite using pertechnetate scintigraphy: a prospective study.Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2002 Feb;29(2):170-5. doi: 10.1007/s00259-001-0658-4. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2002. PMID: 11926378
-
[Frostbite of the upper and lower limbs in an expert mountain climber: the value of bone scan in the prediction of amputation level].Rev Esp Med Nucl. 2002 Sep-Oct;21(5):366-9. Rev Esp Med Nucl. 2002. PMID: 12236913 Spanish.
-
The utility of bone scintigraphy with SPECT/CT in the evaluation and management of frostbite injuries.Br J Radiol. 2019 Feb;92(1094):20180545. doi: 10.1259/bjr.20180545. Epub 2018 Nov 1. Br J Radiol. 2019. PMID: 30359097 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Growth disturbances in the hands following thermal injuries in children. 2. Frostbite.Can Assoc Radiol J. 1988 Jun;39(2):95-9. Can Assoc Radiol J. 1988. PMID: 2967846 Review.
Cited by
-
Frostbite treatment: a systematic review with meta-analyses.Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2023 Dec 11;31(1):96. doi: 10.1186/s13049-023-01160-3. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2023. PMID: 38072923 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Imray C, Grieve A, Dhillon S Caudwell Xtreme Everest Research Group. Cold damage to the extremities: Frostbite and non-freezing cold injuries. Postgrad Med J. 2009;85:481–8. - PubMed
-
- Ingram BJ, Raymond TJ. Recognition and treatment of freezing and nonfreezing cold injuries. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2013;12:125–30. - PubMed
-
- Mohr WJ, Jenabzadeh K, Ahrenholz DH. Cold injury. Hand Clin. 2009;25:481–96. - PubMed
-
- Hallam MJ, Cubison T, Dheansa B, Imray C. Managing frostbite. BMJ. 2010;341:c5864. - PubMed
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources