Healing of Burns and the Effect of Shockwave Therapy on the Recovery of Skin Grafts

ESWT is administered as a one-off treatment on the wound surfaces within 24 hours of a 2nd degree burn trauma and immediately after an intraoperative skin graft excision procedure. A defocused sound head is orthogradely applied to the burn wound or the donor site. 100 impulses/cm² is administered at 20 seconds per cm². The defocused sound head is placed on the wound along with a sterile gel (Lavaseptgel®, Octenidingel®) and a sterile protection foil. The shockwaves deployed are not at an energy density that is painful. This single application of ESWT is followed by routine dressing using Mepitel® in combination with Polyhexanid/Octenidin®.

Inclusion criteria

Group A (n=50): Consent-capable male and female patients between ≥18 and ≤80 years of age who have sustained a superficial 2nd degree burn on ≥1% and ≤30% of the surface of the body.

Group B (n=50): Consent-capable male and female patients between ≥18 and ≤80 years of age who have sustained a deep 2nd degree burn on ≥1% and ≤30% of the surface of the body.

Group C (n=50): Consent-capable male and female patients between ≥18 and ≤80 years of age who require a skin excision for the purpose of a skin graft. The minimal size of the skin-graft donor site must not be less than 1% of BBS.

Exclusion criteria

General exclusion criteria

• pregnancy
• below 18 or above 80 years of age
• burns requiring artificial respiration, since consent for the study participation is unobtainable
• extent of burns ≤1% to ≥30% of the body surface

Anamnestic exclusion criteria

• diabetes mellitus requiring insulin
• dialysis-dependent
• ongoing chemotherapy treatment
• drug abuse
• systemic skin diseases
• systemic and local cortisone therapy

Local exclusion criteria

Excluded from the study are those with burns in the regions:

• head, face, neck
• proximal ventral and dorsal thorax