Key Researcher
Rachel Nygaard, PhD, joined the Department of Surgery as Research Director and Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency at Hennepin County Medical Center in 2012.
She completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Her focus was the pathogenesis of viral respiratory infections. Prior to her graduate education, she was a high school science teacher; this symbiosis merges her love for research and education in her departmental role. She built the research program in the department to focus on health disparities and traumatic injury.
Frostbite
Dr. Nygaard is an internationally recognized expert in frostbite research. She is the Primary Investigator for numerous frostbite-associated research studies, including a multi-national prospective frostbite study. Minnesota’s winter temperatures frequently drop to -20 F, and with the frigid wind chills, it can drop as low as -50 F. These extreme temperatures can lead to high rates of cold weather injuries, including frostbite. Frostbite can result in lifelong debilitating injuries and even severe complications like amputation.
Due to her research, she’s been invited to speak and led several frostbite sessions at the American Burn Association’s Conferences. She also lent her expertise to the American Burn Association’s recently published Clinical Practice Guidelines for treating and managing frostbite injury.
Dr. Nygaard designed a tool to evaluate the impact of interventions and assess outcomes following frostbite injury. The Hennepin Frostbite Score was originally designed to be utilized with formal imaging, you can use the ‘at risk’ score with any measure of severity that you may use at your center and compare that to final amputation levels.
Pub Med
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1d5DWUT8v-V5o/bibliography/public/
Website in development
Other Key Researchers
Dr. Nygaard collaborates with the entire burn team to support the improvement of frostbite care at Hennepin Healthcare.
Burn Center - Hennepin Healthcare
Publications
- Frostbite: Current Controversies and Cares. 2023 American Burn Association Meeting Course Director
- Total Burn Care, 6th Frostbite chapter
- Wibbenmeyer L, Lacey AM, Endorf FW, Logsetty S, Wagner ALL, Gibson ALF, Nygaard RM. American Burn Association Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Treatment of Severe Frostbite. Journal of Burn Care and Research. In Press.
- Murphy J, Endorf FW, Winters MK, Rogers C, Walter E, Neumann N, Weber L, Lacey AM, Punjabi G, Nygaard RM. Bleeding Complications in Patients with Severe Frostbite Injury. Journal of Burn Care and Research. J Burn Care Res. 2022 Dec 9:irac180. doi: 10.1093/jbcr/irac180. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36482743.
- Raleigh SM, Samson M, Nygaard R, Endorf F, Walter J, Masters T. Bedside Fluorescence Microangiography for Frostbite Diagnosis in the Emergency Department. West J Emerg Med. 2022 Oct 23;23(6):872-877. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2022.8.55020. PMID: 36409932; PMCID: PMC9683761.
- Coward A, Endorf FW, Nygaard RM. Revision Surgery Following Severe Frostbite Injury Compared to Similar Hand and Foot Burns. Journal of Burn Care and Research. 2022 Jun 21. Online ahead of print. PMID:35986492.
- Rogers C, Endorf FW, Schmitz K, Fey R, Gayken J, Nygaard RM. The effects of rapid rewarming on tissue salvage in severe frostbite injury. Journal of Burn Care and Research. 2021 Nov 16. PMID: 34791315.
- Lacey AM, Rogers C, Endorf FW, Gayken JR, Schmitz KR, Punjabi GV, Whitley AB, Masters TC, Moore JC, Fey R, Nygaard RM. The Hennepin Protocol – Retrospective analysis of an institutional treatment algorithm for severe frostbite. Journal of Burn Care and Research. 2021 Jan 23. PMID: 33484248. doi: 10.1093/jbcr/irab008.
- Lacey AM, Fey RM, Gayken JR, Endorf FW, Schmitz KR, Punjabi GV, Masters TC, Nygaard RM. Microangiography: An alternative tool for assessing severe frostbite injury. Journal of Burn Care and Research. 2019; Aug 14, 40(5):566-569. PMID: 31298700. doi: 10.1093/jbcr/irz112.
- Nygaard RM, Lacey AM, Lemere A, Dole M, Gayken JR, Lambert Wagner AL, Fey RM. Time Matters in Severe Frostbite: Assessment of Limb/Digit Salvage on the Individual Patient Level. J Burn Care Res. 2017;38(1):53-9. PMID:27606554. DOI: 10.1097/BCR.0000000000000426.
- Nygaard RM, Whitley AB, Fey RM, Wagner AL. The Hennepin Score: Quantification of Frostbite Management Efficacy. J Burn Care Res. 2016;37(4):E317-22). PMID: 26536540. DOI: 10.1097/BCR.0000000000000277.
Key Researcher
Rachel Nygaard, PhD, joined the Department of Surgery as Research Director and Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency at Hennepin County Medical Center in 2012.
She completed her Ph.D. in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Her focus was the pathogenesis of viral respiratory infections. Prior to her graduate education, she was a high school science teacher; this symbiosis merges her love for research and education in her departmental role. She built the research program in the department to focus on health disparities and traumatic injury.