Cold-induced vasoconstriction for preventing onycholysis during cancer treatment

Chemotherapy induced nail toxicity is observed in up to 88 % of cancer patients. Onycholysis, a severe form of nail toxicity in which the nail is detached from the nail bed, is observed in 0 % to 44 % of cancer patients undergoing a taxanes based chemotherapy. The use of ice gloves may reduce incidence rates for chemotherapy induced onycholysis, but cause cold and pain. In this research it was hypothesized that the use of local active cooling would reduce blood flow in the distal phalanxes, whilst inducing less discomfort as compared to an ice glove.