Depth of intact vascular plexus – visualized with optical coherence tomography – correlates to burn depth in thoracic thermic injuries in children

Deep thermal injuries are among the most serious injuries in childhood, often resulting in scarring and functional impairment. However, accurate assessment of burn depth by clinical judgment is challenging. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides structural images of the skin and can detect blood flow within the papillary plexus. In this study, we determined the depth of the capillary network in healthy and thermally injured skin and compared it with clinical assessment. In 25 children between 7 months and 15 years of age (mean age 3.5 years (SD±4.14)) with thermal injuries of the ventral thoracic wall, we determined the depth of the capillary network using OCT. Measurements were performed on healthy skin and at the center of the thermal injury (16 grade IIa, 9 grade IIb). Comparisons were made between healthy skin and thermal injury. The capillary network of the papillary plexus in healthy skin was detected at 0.33 mm (SD±0.06) from the surface. In grade IIb injuries, the depth of the capillary network was 0.36 mm (SD±0.06) and in grade IIa injuries 0.23 mm (SD±0.04) (Mann-Whitney U test: p