The optimal duration and delay of first aid treatment for deep partial thickness burn injuries

Cuttle, Leila; Kempf, Margit; Liu, Pei-Yun; Kravchuk, Olena; Kimble, Roy M.

doi:10.1016/j.burns.2009.08.002

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Volume 36, Issue 5 , Pages 673-679, August 2010

The optimal duration and delay of first aid treatment for deep partial thickness burn injuries

Leila Cuttle
- Royal Children's Hospital Burns and Trauma Research Group, University of Queensland, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Herston Rd, Herston, Queensland 4029, Australia
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 7 3636 9067; fax: +61 7 3365 5455.
Margit Kempf
- Royal Children's Hospital Burns and Trauma Research Group, University of Queensland, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Herston Rd, Herston, Queensland 4029, Australia
Pei-Yun Liu
- Royal Children's Hospital Burns and Trauma Research Group, University of Queensland, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Herston Rd, Herston, Queensland 4029, Australia
Olena Kravchuk
- University of Queensland, School of Land, Crop and Food Science, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
Roy M. Kimble
- Royal Children's Hospital Burns and Trauma Research Group, University of Queensland, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Herston Rd, Herston, Queensland 4029, Australia

Accepted 10 August 2009.

Abstract

Using our porcine model of deep dermal partial thickness burn injury, various durations (10min, 20min, 30min or 1h) and delays (immediate, 10min, 1h, 3h) of 15°C running water first aid were applied to burns and compared to untreated controls. The subdermal temperatures were monitored during the treatment and wounds observed weekly for 6 weeks, for re-epithelialisation, wound surface area and cosmetic appearance. At 6 weeks after the burn, tissue biopsies were taken of the scar for histological analysis. Results showed that immediate application of cold running water for 20min duration is associated with an improvement in re-epithelialisation over the first 2 weeks post-burn and decreased scar tissue at 6 weeks. First aid application of cold water for as little as 10min duration or up to 1h delay still provides benefit.