II. Definitions
- Heat Edema
- Acute edema related to heat exposure
III. Epidemiology
- Occurs in non-acclimitized patients (esp. elderly)
IV. Pathophysiology
- In warm environments, body shunts warm blood to periphery via peripheral vasodilation
- Also associated with salt or water retention from heat
- Increased peripheral fluid results in microvascular transudate
- Despite edema, patients are typically intravascularly volume depleted
- May be provoked by rapid transition from cold to hot environments
V. Symptoms
VI. Signs
- Weight gain up to 5 kg over several days
- Distribution
- Ankle edema (most common)
- Hand edema
VII. Differential Diagnosis
- See Edema
VIII. Labs
- Serum Sodium decreased (Hyponatremia)
IX. Management
- Move to cooler environment
- Elevate extremities
- Consider Compression Stockings
- Do NOT administer Diuretics (not helpful and potentially harmful in a volume depleted patient)
X. Course
- Onset within 48 hours of arriving in warm climate
- Resolves with acclimatization diuresis in a few days
XI. References
- Salinas and Ruttan (2017) Crit Dec Emerg Med 31(9): 3-10
- Zink (2020) Crit Dec Emerg Med 34(3): 19-27
Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)
Related Studies
| Concepts | Injury or Poisoning (T037) |
| ICD9 | 992.7 |
| ICD10 | T67.7 |
| SnomedCT | 157728007, 55017000 |
| English | Effects of heat edema, Effects of heat oedema, heat edema, heat edema (diagnosis), edema heat, Heat oedema (disorder), Heat edema, Heat oedema, Heat edema (disorder), edema; heat, heat; edema |
| Italian | Edema da calore |
| French | Oedème dû à la chaleur, Oedème de chaleur |
| Japanese | 熱性浮腫, ﾈｯｾｲﾌｼｭ, ﾈﾂｾｲﾌｼｭ |
| Czech | Edém z horka, Otok z horka |
| Korean | 열성 부종 |
| Hungarian | Thermicus oedema |
| Dutch | hitte; oedeem, oedeem; hitte, Warmte-oedeem, hitte-oedeem |
| Spanish | edema por calor (trastorno), edema por calor, Edema por calor |
| Portuguese | Edema pelo calor |
| German | Hitzeoedem |
