Ultrasonographic characterization of burn scars in children

So far, little is known about the acoustic phenomena of high-frequency sono graphy for the assessment of healing processes in thermal wounds. However, ex vivo investigations have shown clear age-dependent differences in the ra te of sound propagation in thermal scars compared to healthy skin. In order to answer the question of whether measurable acoustic characterist ics of burn or scald scars can be classified in a way which corresponds to the clinical severity of the injuries, age of scar or type of treatment, 92 thermal scars, with an average scar age of 3.1 years, in 55 children were investigated with regard to cerium thickness and echogenicity. A control gr oup of 25 non-injured children of similar age was studied for comparison. I t was shown that measurable echogenicity differences can allow conclusions about clinical severity to be drawn. The comparison of different therapeuti c strategies showed no therapeutic effect either for compression or for the application of silicone gel sheets. In contrast, a decrease in scar thickn ess and a loosening of scar structure could be seen after early application of a sterile, silicone-covered polyamide net bandage. The 20-MHz-Sonograph ie is a suitable non-invasive procedure for the characterisation of burn sc ars.