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Burn wound assessment in porcine skin using indocyanine green fluorescence
M R Jerath1, K T Schomacker, R L Sheridan
1Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA.
Background:
An accurate assessment of deep dermal burns within the first week after burn is still an unresolved clinical problem. Infrared-excited fluorescence of indocyanine green was examined as a method of early determination of burn depth.
Methods:
Burns of varying depths were placed on the paraspinal region, flank, and abdomen of swine using a heated brass block. Fluorescence images of the burns were recorded 1, 24, 48, and 72 hours later.
Results:
The ratio of fluorescence in 64 burn wounds relative to adjacent normal tissue identified wounds that healed and did not heal within 21 days with an accuracy of 100%, after accounting for the age of the burn. Higher fluorescence ratios were observed in newly placed burns relative to older burns having comparable depths.
Conclusion:
Deep partial-thickness burns were differentiated from deep dermal full-thickness burns in a porcine skin burn model independent of body location. Diagnosis was possible between 1 and 72 hours after injury.