Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 22, 2026

An Alternative to the Traditional Cold Pressor Test: The Cold Pressor Arm Wrap
Published on: January 16, 2014
Finger cold-induced vasodilation test does not predict subsequent cold injuries: A lesson from the 2018 Canadian
Wendy Sullivan-Kwantes1, Katy Moes1, Robert Limmer1
1Department of National Defence, Toronto Research Centre, Research and Development, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
A cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) test was administered to 113 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) soldiers (age 25.6 ± 6 yrs) during pre-deployment to a Canadian Arctic training exercise. The incidence and rates/types of subsequent peripheral cold injuries, as well as the relationship of CIVD responses against other hypothesized/reported risk factors (smoking, gender, age, ethnicity and prior cold injury), were analyzed. Although there was a wide range of CIVD RIF (resistance index to frostbite) scores (mean = 5.0 ± 1.5), there were no systematic relationships between RIF and injury type/location and rate, and the other risk factors analyzed. The absence of physiological links to cold injury occurrence suggests that in a military cold deployment setting, other factors are in play, which might include clothing, training, leadership and doctrine. These factors should be examined in future work.
Related Concept Videos
Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
Cold Weather Concreting
To counteract the negative impacts of cold weather, ensuring...
Masonry in Cold and Hot Weather Conditions
Other key practices include keeping masonry units...
Antihypertensive Drugs: Vasodilators
Intermolecular Forces
Predicting Molecular Geometry

