Burn Depth Evaluation with Fluorometry: Is It Really Definitive?

A general overview of burn care

“…Dyes have been used in the past, particularly in experimental burns, in an attempt to distinguish between dead and vital tissues, but are not used in the clinical situation. Fluorescein has been tested quite extensively (15), based on the same principles but, again, is not used clinically. Ultrasound has been used as well but was shown not to be better than clinical judgement with respect to determining burn depth (16).…”

Histological assessment of tangentially excised burn eschars

“…However, the assessment of burn depth through the opaque eschar is difficult, if not impossible, even with advanced diagnostic methods such as photographic infrared, ultrasound and laser Doppler imaging (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). Furthermore, the burn's depth is not constant within the damaged area, and the eschar's color and texture may be misleading even to experts.…”

A Systematic Review of the Evolution of Laser Doppler Techniques in Burn Depth Assessment

“…The fluorometer provided a method of quantification of fluorescein dye in the cutaneous circulation [35], and several studies investigated its use in both free flap monitoring [35–37] and burn wounds [38, 39]. Gatti et al evaluated the ability of the fluorometer to distinguish partial thickness from full thickness burns after injection of fluorescein dye.…”

“…Actual depth of burn was judged by healing within 21 days. The results showed no significant difference of fluorescein uptake between partial and full thickness burns with large variability in both human and rat models [39]. …”