Abstract
Background. For surgeons, accurately determining the depth and extent of burns is difficult. Consequently, the management and course of burn treatment are significantly impacted by an accurate diagnosis of burn depth. The purpose of the current study was to assess the accuracy of acute burn depth assessment using laser Doppler and clinical evaluations.
Methods. The current research is a clinical trial. Overall, 120 burn patients were evaluated in this study. The data collection tool was a researcher-made form. SPSS, Chi-square tests, and one-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.
Results. The results revealed that the average age of the subjects was 35.29 years, and most of them were male. The most common cause of burns was flame, and most of the patients who participated in the study had the depth of “2nd-degree partial thickness and 2nd-degree deep thickness burns”. The accuracy rate was 80.83% and 96.66% in the clinical evaluation and laser Doppler, respectively.
Conclusion. More accurate and effective than the clinical evaluation method, the laser Doppler method detects burn levels. For clinical evaluation in burn treatment facilities, it is, therefore, advised that the laser Doppler method be taken into consideration as an alternative.
Practical Implications. The accuracy of laser Doppler in detecting the depth and extent of burns is higher than clinical evaluations. It is better to use it at least for second- and third-degree burns for a better diagnosis.