Burn assessment: A critical review on care, advances in burn healing and pre-clinical animal studies

Burn, a severe skin injury due to electricity, radiation, chemicals, or friction, may lead to the death of affected skin cells. Burns are a painful and crucial problem which causes disabilities. Sometimes, burns may also associate with the mortality of burn-injured patients. First-degree, second-degree, and third-degree are three categories of burns. First-degree burns (superficial burns) create minor skin damage as it affects the only uppermost layer of skin, and domestic care is sufficient for the treatment. Second-degree burns have injuries beyond the upper layer of skin, and third-degree burns reach every layer of skin, including nerve injuries that require critical care in treatment. Burn injuries are not limited to local; they may also give systemic responses and cause serious problems. Microbial infection is the most severe challenge associated with second and third-degree burns injuries. The ultimate goal for treating burn injuries is re-epithelialization with minimum tissue scarring. Selection of the appropriate treatment will be based on the extremity of the burn injury. The most prevalent and effective treatment is topical agents containing mafenide acetate, silver sulfadiazine, silver nitrate, etc. Skin substitutes, negative pressure wound therapy, and skin grafting are advanced treatments for burn injuries. Burn treatment is also associated with complications such as infection, dehydration, low body temperature, and emotional problems. Animal studies for burn models are performed using rabbits, rats, and pigs. This may be an effective way to find out the new forms of burn treatment, including assessing newly developed formulations.