PATTERN-RECOGNITION IN POSTTRAUMATIC COLD INTOLERANCE

The subjective symptoms called ''post-traumatic cold intolerance'' wer e analysed in a study of 40 patients with a history of digital trauma (amputation, neurovascular laceration, or comminuted fracture requirin g surgical reconstruction). The patients were individually interviewed to obtain detailed information about perception of each symptom as we ll as the pattern of symptoms of posttraumatic cold intolerance. The s tudy confirmed the high incidence of the condition and its potentially disabling nature. Although the individual symptoms described by the p atients have a limited number of categories, the subjective expression of cold intolerance is too varied to allow an adequate definition or assessment to be based on any single symptom or group of symptoms.