Guirro ECO1, Rezende MS1, de Carvalho CS1, Kuviena C1, Guirro RRJ1
1Ribeirão Preto Medical School - USP, Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Background: Severe burns are treated with skin grafting, which is necessary to aid the healing process. However, the treatment of donor areas is often neglected. The donor areas of burn patients are areas that can suffer complications in the healing process such as infections, folliculitis, hyper or hypochromia, formation of hypertrophic and / or keloid scars, and it is important to evaluate the biomechanical properties modified with the withdrawal of the donor area.
Purpose: The objective the study was to correlate the firmness and malleability of skin in thigh donor areas in burned patients.
Methods: Twenty-three patients were included, with a mean age of 34 (±9.98) years. Tissue firmness was analyzed by the Durometer® and the malleability through the Cutometer®. The measurements were standardized in the middle area of the graft, with an interval of 1 minute between each one of the three measurement. The Shapiro-Wilk test was applied to verify the normality of the data, and, by noting normality, the Spearman correlation test (rs) was applied to verify the association between the variables.
Results: There was a significant and negative association between the correlated variables (rs = -0.442, p = 0.035).
Conclusion(s): There is a negative association between firmness and malleability of the skin in donor areas of thighs in burn patients. Therefore, the greater the firmness of the skin, the less malleability.
Implications: Evaluate the donor areas biomechanical changes is important to control the evolution of the lesion, to promote more targeted therapeutic interventions.
Keywords: Donor areas, Burned, Biomechanical
Funding acknowledgements: Foundation to Support Teaching, Research and Assistance - HCRP
Purpose: The objective the study was to correlate the firmness and malleability of skin in thigh donor areas in burned patients.
Methods: Twenty-three patients were included, with a mean age of 34 (±9.98) years. Tissue firmness was analyzed by the Durometer® and the malleability through the Cutometer®. The measurements were standardized in the middle area of the graft, with an interval of 1 minute between each one of the three measurement. The Shapiro-Wilk test was applied to verify the normality of the data, and, by noting normality, the Spearman correlation test (rs) was applied to verify the association between the variables.
Results: There was a significant and negative association between the correlated variables (rs = -0.442, p = 0.035).
Conclusion(s): There is a negative association between firmness and malleability of the skin in donor areas of thighs in burn patients. Therefore, the greater the firmness of the skin, the less malleability.
Implications: Evaluate the donor areas biomechanical changes is important to control the evolution of the lesion, to promote more targeted therapeutic interventions.
Keywords: Donor areas, Burned, Biomechanical
Funding acknowledgements: Foundation to Support Teaching, Research and Assistance - HCRP
Topic: Critical care
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo
Ethics committee: Ethics Committee on Human Research at Ribeirão Preto Medical School
Ethics number: 13386/2011
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
