title: Development of an animal frostbite injury model using the Goettingen-Minipig.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A standardized reproducible animal model is desirable to gain a better understanding in the pathophysiology of frostbite injury and to develop novel therapies. Little has been studied about frostbite injury models. The depth and extent were not always being controllable and consistent. Therefore, we developed a frostbite injury model using the Göttingen Minipigs.
  
  
  METHODS
  42 frostbite injuries were inflicted on the abdomen of seven minipigs using an aluminium bar (300g, circular with a radius of 1cm) frozen with liquid nitrogen to -196°C. The bar was applied for 1, 3, 6, 12, 30 and 60s. Five hours after injury biopsies were performed and evaluated by the presence of denatured collagen, blood vessels, follicular epithelial cells and mesenchymal cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A large spectrum of frostbite injuries was obtained ranging from superficial, superficial partial, deep partial to full thickness. The depth of injury in the sets of frostbites was highly consistent (Pearson correlation ranged from r=0.89 to 0.94).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We described a simple, inexpensive and safe swine frostbite model. The accurate reproducibility of the depth of the frostbite injuries allows researchers to accurately plan frostbite studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: Jens.Rothenberger@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rothenberger
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: mheld@bgu-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Held
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: pjaminet@bgu-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jaminet
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: jschiefer@bgu-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schiefer
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Wiebke
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: hschaller@bgu-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Hans-Eberhard
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Schaller
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand and Burn Surgery, BG-Trauma Center, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany. Electronic address: arahmanian@bgu-tuebingen.de.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rahmanian-Schwarz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004487:Edema / Q000473:pathology; D005627:Frostbite / Q000473:pathology*; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000473:pathology; D009336:Necrosis; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D013552:Swine; D013556:Swine, Miniature; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Cold injury; Frostbite animal model; Minipig; Swine