Monitoring wound healing in minor burns-A novel approach

Localised BIS resistance and phase angle triplicate measures, of minor limb burns, were collected on two serial occasions. Circumference limb measures were taken at the localised burn site to determine a truncated limb volume. Proportional-odds ordered logistic regression analyses determined resistance at zero frequency (R0, indicative of edema) and resistance of total body fluid (Rinf) were significantly associated with healing after adjustment for the influence of surgery. A one unit increase in R0 and Rinf increased the odds of wound healing by 6% and 5% respectively (p < 0.01). Phase angle at 50 kHz and Ri were not significantly associated with the markers of the wound healing process. Spearman's correlation determined there was a significant association between a healing wound and limb segment volume (ml) (rho −0.30, p < 0.01). BIS is a technique, which has the potential to monitor the progress of wound healing.