Abstract. Burn injuries remain one of the most serious challenges in clinical medicine due to the high rate of complications, the complexity of treatment, and the need for accurate assessment of burn depth. This issue has become particularly relevant in Ukraine under conditions of military aggression, where burns have become a common component of combat-related injuries in both military personnel and civilians. Existing clinical methods for assessing burn depth remain largely subjective and limited in precision. Therefore, there is a need to introduce objective technological solutions that provide more accurate diagnostics and improve treatment outcomes. Objective. To improve the technique of tangential excision in burn wound management through the implementation of additional pre- and intraoperative diagnostic tools-non-contact wound area measurement using the custom computer program “Wound Analyzer” and burn depth assessment using non-contact thermography. Material and Methods. This paper presents a clinical case of a 20-year-old serviceman with thermal burns to the face and limbs (20 % total body surface area, including 11.2 % superficial and 8.6 % deep burns). Preoperative assessment of burn depth was performed using the portable FLIR One thermographic camera. For planning the skin graft area, the custom software “Wound Analyzer” was used to perform accurate digital wound area measurement and to calculate graft dimensions. Surgical treatment included tangential excision of necrotic tissues followed by autologous skin grafting. Results. The proposed method allowed for high precision in determining burn depth and minimized trauma to healthy tissue. Thermographic assessment helped avoid both excessive and insufficient excision, which is critical in aesthetic and functional areas. The “Wound Analyzer” software enabled optimal planning of the graft area. Graft healing began on postoperative day 6, with full re-epithelialization by day 16. The patient remained hospitalized for 21 days with no complications. Conclusions. The combined use of thermography and digital wound area measurement significantly enhances diagnostic objectivity, improves surgical outcomes, and shortens healing time in burn wound treatment. The accessibility of the equipment and software makes this approach feasible for implementation in resource-limited settings, including Ukrainian medical facilities during wartime.
Farmaha et al. (Thu,) studied this question.