Key points and development trends of diagnosis,treatment,and prevention of altitude frostbite

Yang Ce

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-4237.2025.06.002

Abstract：Frostbite is a typical injury that poses a serious threat to the life,health,and operational capacity of individuals in high-altitude environments.The unique characteristics of the high-altitude geographical environment and the diversity in hypoxic frostbite cognition,behaviors,and cold tolerance among exposed populations are critical factors limiting the effectiveness of its diagnosis,treatment,and prevention strategies.Therefore,this paper systemati-cally reviews the four"Wilderness Medical Society practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of frostbite"and analyzes the key points of diagnosis,treatment,and protective techniques for high altitude frostbite from the per-spectives of epidemiology,influencing factors and their interactions,and graded rescue and protection.It also propo-ses possible pathways and directions for theoretical and technological innovation regarding high altitude frostbite,an-ticipating a multidisciplinary collaborative approach that integrates medicine,biomaterials science,and artificial intel-ligence technology to advance the exploration of molecular biomarkers,molecular mechanisms,and targeted drug de-velopment;the construction of risk prediction models and intelligent simulation systems;the development of new gene therapy and artificial intelligence diagnosis and treatment technologies for high-altitude frostbite;as well as in-novations in suitable warming and antifreeze techniques for high-altitude environments,including warming to prevent frostbite,oxygen supplementation to prevent frostbite,active movement to prevent frostbite,and thrombolytic treatment for frostbite.The aim is to empower the standardization of prevention,diagnosis,and treatment for high-altitude frost-bite.