title: A porcine model of full-thickness burn, excision and skin autografting.
abstract: Acute burn wounds often require early excision and adequate coverage to prevent further hypothermia, protein and fluid losses, and the risk of infection. Meshed autologous skin grafts are generally regarded as the standard treatment for extensive full-thickness burns. Graft take and rate of wound healing, however, depend on several endogenous factors. This paper describes a standardized reproducible porcine model of burn and skin grafting which can be used to study the effects of topical treatments on graft take and re-epithelialization. Procedures provide a protocol for successful porcine burn wound experiments with special focus on pre-operative care, anesthesia, burn allocation, excision and grafting, postoperative treatment, dressing application, and specimen collection. Selected outcome measurements include percent area of wound closure by planimetry, wound assessment using a clinical assessment scale, and histological scoring. The use of this standardized model provides burn researchers with a valuable tool for the comparison of different topical drug treatments and dressing materials in a setting that closely mimics clinical reality.
authors.affiliation: Shriners Hospital for Children and University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ludwik K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Branski
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mittermayr
authors.forename: David N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Herndon
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Norbury
authors.forename: Oscar E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Masters
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Traber
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Redl
authors.forename: Marc G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Jeschke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006085:Graft Survival; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D013552:Swine; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*