3D photography is a reliable burn wound area assessment tool compared to digital planimetry in very young children

E L Gee Kee; R M Kimble; K A Stockton

doi:10.1016/j.burns.2015.01.020

3D photography is a reliable burn wound area assessment tool compared to digital planimetry in very young children

Burns. 2015 Sep;41(6):1286-90. doi: 10.1016/j.burns.2015.01.020. Epub 2015 Feb 21.

Authors

E L Gee Kee¹, R M Kimble², K A Stockton³

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: e.geekee@uq.edu.au.
² Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Australia; Stuart Pegg Paediatric Burns Centre, Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia.
³ Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Australia.

PMID: 25716762
DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2015.01.020

Abstract

Background: Reliability and validity of 3D photography (3D LifeViz™ System) compared to digital planimetry (Visitrak™) has been established in a compliant cohort of children with acute burns. Further research is required to investigate these assessment tools in children representative of the general pediatric burns population, specifically children under the age of three years.

Aim: To determine if 3D photography is a reliable wound assessment tool compared to Visitrak™ in children of all ages with acute burns ≤10% TBSA.

Method: Ninety-six children (median age 1 year 9 months) who presented to the Royal Children's Hospital Brisbane with an acute burn ≤10% TBSA were recruited into the study. Wounds were measured at the first dressing change using the Visitrak™ system and 3D photography. All measurements were completed by one investigator and level of agreement between wound surface area measurements was calculated.

Results: Wound surface area measurements were complete (i.e. participants had measurements from both techniques) for 75 participants. Level of agreement between wound surface area measurements calculated using an intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was excellent (ICC 0.96, 95% CI 0.93, 0.97). Visitrak™ tracings could not be completed in 19 participants with 16 aged less than two years. 3D photography could not be completed for one participant. Barriers to completing tracings were: excessive movement, pain, young age or wound location (e.g. face or perineum).

Conclusion: This study has confirmed 3D photography as a reliable alternative to digital planimetry in children of all ages with acute burns ≤10% TBSA. In addition, 3D photography is more suitable for very young children given its non-invasive nature.

Keywords: Burn; Child; Reliability; Wound area.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Body Surface Area*
Burns / diagnosis*
Burns / pathology
Child
Child, Preschool
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
Infant
Male
Photogrammetry / methods*
Photography / methods
Reproducibility of Results