Cold Injury in Afghanistan: Comparison to Past Conflicts

Abstract : Frostbite has historically been most common in military populations. Recent conflicts in the United States have until Afghanistan been fought in warm weather areas. The most recent reports of cold injury in the United States military have been from the 1980s. The purpose of this inquiry is to investigate the extent of the problem currently and what improvements have been made. A total of 19 cases of cold weather injury were identified in the Afghanistan conflict. 2 cases of frostbite were identified with only one likely requiring surgical intervention. No cases were identified in Iraq. The 19 cold weather injuries represents a dramatic decrease from the 6300 cases of cold weather injury seen in the last major cold weather conflict, the Korean War. This is due to the shorter and weather dependent engagements, cold weather education, and improved equipment of US and allied personnel.