FrostbiteNCT05280301
Multicenter Sous Vide Frostbite
A study testing Sous Vide Device (SVD) in people with Frostbite and Frostbite of Hand, run by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of using sous vide devices for heating and maintaining the circulating warm water bath used in the rewarming of acute frostbite. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any age
- Conditions the study is for
- Frostbite, Frostbite of Hand, Frostbite of Foot
- What is being tested?
- Sous Vide Device (SVD)
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 7 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 1 Dec 2022to 25 Nov 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages Any age
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Age 18 or up
- Age <17 with parent or guardian consent
- Ability to understand English
- Ability to provide consent to the study
- Acute frostbite of the hands and/or feet
Who cannot join
- Children under age 18 without parent or guardian
- Frostbite that has already thawed
- Frostbite of tissue other than hands or feet
- Inability to understand English
- Inability to provide consent
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Lebanon, New Hampshire, 03756
About this study
Official title: Assessment of Sous Vide Water Baths for Acute Rewarming of Frostbitten Extremities
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of using sous vide devices for heating and maintaining the circulating warm water bath used in the rewarming of acute frostbite.
Read the detailed description
Frostbite can be a devastating and limb threatening injury. Treatment involves active rewarming in a warm water bath at a consistent temperature, but maintaining the correct temperature water is clinically challenging. Currently these water baths are created and monitored manually - leading to poor rewarming and inefficient use of resources. The "sous vide" device offers an alternative to the manual water bath method. The specific aim of our study is to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and feasibility of use of the sous vide device in patients with extremity frostbite in a multicenter prospective cohort. Data demonstrating the ability of the sous vide device to warm and precisely maintain water bath target temperatures, in addition to expanded evidence of the safety of this modality, will support the broader use of sous vide devices in frostbite care.
- Conditions
- Frostbite, Frostbite of Hand, Frostbite of Foot
- Being tested
- Sous Vide Device (SVD)
- Medical subject headings
- Frostbite
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Sous Vide Device (SVD)Device
A basin will be filled to the marked line with water from jugs at room temperature, for each frozen extremity. The sous vide device (SVD) will be attached to the distal edge of the basin. The SVD will be turned on and set to maintain the bath at a constant 38 degrees celsius for 30 minutes duration. The thermometers will be powered on continuously and the researcher will record temperatures simultaneously from each thermometer and the SVD every 2 minutes. At the end of the 30 minute treatment, the extremity assessed by the researcher for warmth and pliability. If the extremity still feels cold or frozen, an additional 30 minutes in the water bath will commence, with subsequent reassessment. Rewarming will be considered complete when the affected tissue becomes red or purple, soft, and pliable.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Sous vide device | Experimental | The intervention will be the use of a sous vide device to heat the water bath to 38 degrees celsius, rather than the traditional methods of manual water exchanges or placing the frostbitten tissue under running water. Receives: Device: Sous Vide Device (SVD) |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Rewarming
Assess if frostbitten extremities can be thawed in a warm water bath created by the experimental device.
Measured: Up to 90 minutes
Time to Rewarm in Minutes
Measure the time required to rewarm frostbitten extremities until the extremity is reddish or purple in coloration, and soft and pliable
Measured: Up to 90 minutes
Secondary outcomes (1)
Ease of Use: Provider Review
Providers will report ease of use of the rewarming modality by completing a survey. The survey consists of two questions requesting providers to indicate ease of use of the device on a scale from 0-10, where 0 indicates easy and 10 indicated difficult.
Measured: Immediately after rewarming, up to 90 minutes
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted15 Mar 2022
- Study start1 Dec 2022
- Primary completion25 Nov 2024
- Study completion25 Nov 2024
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for FrostbiteStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 7 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Nicholas Daniel, DO, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
- Investigators
- Nicholas Daniel, DO, Principal investigator, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05280301
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- STUDY02001452
- Status last verified
- Dec 2025
- First submitted
- 2 Mar 2022
- Last updated
- 30 Dec 2025
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- Yes
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 30 Dec 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Assessment of Sous Vide Water Baths for Acute Rewarming of Frostbitten Extremities
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05280301
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STUDY02001452
- Conditions
- Frostbite, Frostbite of Hand, Frostbite of Foot
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 7 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 1 Dec 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 25 Nov 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 25 Nov 2024 (actual)
- First posted
- 15 Mar 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 30 Dec 2025
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of using sous vide devices for heating and maintaining the circulating warm water bath used in the rewarming of acute frostbite.
Detailed description
Frostbite can be a devastating and limb threatening injury. Treatment involves active rewarming in a warm water bath at a consistent temperature, but maintaining the correct temperature water is clinically challenging. Currently these water baths are created and monitored manually - leading to poor rewarming and inefficient use of resources. The "sous vide" device offers an alternative to the manual water bath method. The specific aim of our study is to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and feasibility of use of the sous vide device in patients with extremity frostbite in a multicenter prospective cohort. Data demonstrating the ability of the sous vide device to warm and precisely maintain water bath target temperatures, in addition to expanded evidence of the safety of this modality, will support the broader use of sous vide devices in frostbite care.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Sous vide device | Experimental | Device: Sous Vide Device (SVD)The intervention will be the use of a sous vide device to heat the water bath to 38 degrees celsius, rather than the traditional methods of manual water exchanges or placing the frostbitten tissue under running water. |
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Age 18 or up
- Age <17 with parent or guardian consent
- Ability to understand English
- Ability to provide consent to the study
- Acute frostbite of the hands and/or feet
Key exclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Children under age 18 without parent or guardian
- Frostbite that has already thawed
- Frostbite of tissue other than hands or feet
- Inability to understand English
- Inability to provide consent
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Sous Vide Device (SVD)A basin will be filled to the marked line with water from jugs at room temperature, for each frozen extremity. The sous vide device (SVD) will be attached to the distal edge of the basin. The SVD will be turned on and set to maintain the bath at a constant 38 degrees celsius for 30 minutes duration. The thermometers will be powered on continuously and the researcher will record temperatures simultaneously from each thermometer and the SVD every 2 minutes. At the end of the 30 minute treatment, the extremity assessed by the researcher for warmth and pliability. If the extremity still feels cold or frozen, an additional 30 minutes in the water bath will commence, with subsequent reassessment. Rewarming will be considered complete when the affected tissue becomes red or purple, soft, and pliable. | Device | Sous vide device |
Primary outcome
Rewarming
Time frame: Up to 90 minutes
Assess if frostbitten extremities can be thawed in a warm water bath created by the experimental device.
Time to Rewarm in Minutes
Time frame: Up to 90 minutes
Measure the time required to rewarm frostbitten extremities until the extremity is reddish or purple in coloration, and soft and pliable
1 secondary outcome
Ease of Use: Provider Review
Time frame: Immediately after rewarming, up to 90 minutes
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 30 Dec 2025.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Nicholas Daniel, DO principal investigator
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Sous Vide Device (SVD) in people with Frostbite and Frostbite of Hand, run by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 30 Dec 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 30 Dec 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Rewarming (time frame: Up to 90 minutes). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 30 Dec 2025.