• Bradley A Rittenhouse, Julie A Rizzo, Beth A Shields, Matthew P Rowan, James K Aden, José Salinas, Craig A Fenrich, Sarah K Shingleton, Maria Serio-Melvin, David M Burmeister, and Leopoldo C Cancio.
• United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, TX, United States; Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, United States.
• Burns. 2019 Feb 1; 45 (1): 48-53.

AbstractHealing of burn wounds is necessary for survival; however tracking progression or healing of burns is an inexact science. Recently, the relationship of mortality and wound healing has been documented with a software termed WoundFlow. The objective of the current study was to confirm various factors that impact burn wound healing, as well as to establish a timeline and rate of successful healing. A retrospective analysis was performed on adults (n=115) with at least 20% TBSA burn that had at least two computer-based wound mappings. The % open wound (%OW) was calculated over time to document healing trajectory until successful healing or death. Only 2% of patients in the group with successful wound healing died. A decrease in the %OW of 0.8 (IQR: 0.7-1.1) was associated with survival. Disparities in wound healing trajectories between survivors and non-survivors were distinguishable by 2weeks post-injury (P<0.05). When %TBSA was stratified by decile, the 40-49% TBSA group had the highest healing rate. Taken together, the data indicate that wound healing trajectory (%OW) varies with injury severity and survival. As such, automated mapping of wound healing trajectory may provide valuable information concerning patient/prognosis, and may recommend early interventions to optimize wound healing.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

25 keywords...

hide…