Ultrastructural aspects of cooled thermal injury

This study reports on the effects of early cooling on the morphology of partial-thickness burns. After 10% body surface dorsal scald burns at 75 degrees C for 10 seconds, guinea pigs were treated by ice-water immersion at 10 minutes postburn of only the burned surface for 30 minutes. Skin samples from treated and untreated burn wounds were examined at 2, 8, 24, and 96 hours postburn by light and electron microscopy. During the first 24 hours, cooling was associated with reduced loss of epidermis and reduced damage to the basement membrane. There was also less damage to the dermal microvasculature and less edema fluid compared to untreated burn wounds. At 96 hours, the cooled burn wounds demonstrated minimal dermal hemorrhage and polymorphonuclear leukocytic infiltration, compared to the untreated wounds. These results indicate that on a cellular level, cooling has beneficial effects on the experimental burn wound.