Burn wound healing and scar formation in pre-clinical and clinical contexts

The porcine thermal burn model is considered to be the best animal model for examining burn treatment agents prior to human trials and acquiring knowledge on burn wound healing in order to improve burn care clinically. A welldesigned experiment and thoroughly assessed wound healing and scar outcome are essential for trial success. These are particularly important since most wound healing agents can only enhance re-epithelialisation marginally (by 1–4 days). In the last few years, we have conducted a number of porcine burn trials, established a comprehensive wound healing assessment protocol, and accumulated considerable knowledge in wound healing and scar formation. By using laser Doppler imaging to measure blood perfusion of both paediatric and porcine burns together with ultrasound to measure the thickness of paediatric scars, we showed that monitoring blood perfusion of burns can be a useful tool for burn care and for predicting burn wound healing outcomes clinically. Each of these studies provides valuable information for burn wound care and scar assessment in clinical contexts. © 2010 by the Wound Healing Society