Burns Open · Published 2025-11-01 · DOI 10.1016/j.burnso.2025.100432
Major burn injury in neonates is challenging to manage, both in terms of medical management due to low physiologic reserve and higher risk of sepsis and fluid overload, as well as surgical management in view of a thinner dermal layer prone to over excision. Precise tangential excision preserving maximal viable dermis can be difficult to achieve using conventional surgical instruments such as the Goulian or Weck blade, or powered dermatome, particularly over the abdominal region without a bony support platform. Hydrosurgical debridement is an established method of debriding nonviable tissues, but to date has not been described in the surgical debridement of neonatal burn wounds. We present a case of major burns in an ex-premature neonate, in which the VERSAJETTM hydrosurgical debridement system was used to facilitate tangential debridement prior to skin grafting over the trunk and abdomen, with good short- and long-term outcomes.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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