1. Comparison of comparable scald and contact burns in a porcine model: A preliminary report
- Author
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Nigel Zhang, Omar B. Osman, Juin W. Zhou, Zachery B. Harris, M. Hassan Arbab, Evyatar Baer, Mahmoud E. Khani, Steve A. McClain, and Adam J. Singer
- Subjects
Hot Temperature ,Swine ,Biopsy ,Scars ,Dermatology ,Article ,Cicatrix ,030207 dermatology & venereal diseases ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Animal science ,Re-Epithelialization ,Preliminary report ,medicine ,Animals ,Prospective Studies ,Skin pathology ,Skin ,Wound Healing ,Trauma Severity Indices ,Burn depth ,Extramural ,business.industry ,Trauma Severity Indexes ,Disease Models, Animal ,Female ,Surgery ,medicine.symptom ,Burns ,business ,Exposure duration - Abstract
Whether the depth and healing of scalds and contact burns are similar is controversial. Due to water's greater heat capacity, we hypothesized that when exposed to similar temperatures and durations of exposure, burns caused by hot water would be deeper than those caused by contact with hot metal. Forty standardized burns were created in two anesthetized female domestic pigs using a brass bar or circulating heated water. In one pig, the temperature was kept constant (95°C) while the duration of exposure varied (5, 10, 15 seconds) In the second pig, the exposure time was kept constant (10 seconds) while the temperature of exposure varied (70°C, 80°C, 98°C). Periodic punch biopsies were taken to determine burn depth immediately after injury, percentage burns reepithelialized within 21 days, and depth of scar at 28 days. The analysis was performed using analysis of variance. When the temperature was held constant, duration of exposure (5, 10, and 15 seconds) was associated with scar depth (2.1 vs 3.8 vs 5.0 mm, respectively, P = 0.001) but not with burn depth (2.0 vs 2.2 vs 2.3 mm, respectively, P = 0.10). When exposure duration was held constant, temperature (70°C, 80°C, 98°C) was associated with scar depth (0.6 vs 1.7 vs 3.6, P < 0.001) but not with burn depth (1.2 vs 1.5 vs 1.7 mm, respectively, P = 0.21). Burn depths were greater for scald than contact burns although not significantly greater. After controlling for temperature, the difference in scar depth between scalds and contact burns was statistically significant (marginal means 3.0 for contact burns, 4.3 for scalds, P = 0.008). We conclude that burns created in swine with circulating hot water result in deeper scars than those created by contact with a brass bar when controlling for temperature and duration of exposure.
- Published
- 2020
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