The effect of early surgical excision and homografting on survival of burned rats and of intraperitoneally-infected burned rats.

The effects of early and delayed surgical excision and skin homografting on survival in burned, uninfected rats and in burned rats infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, intraperitoneally, has been studied. The survival rate in animals treated with surgical excision and no coverage was significantly worse than in the animals who were simply burned. Immediate excision of the burn wound followed by prompt coverage with skin homografts resulted in decrease in the mortality rate from subsequent intraperitoneal infection of Pseudomonas. The beneficial effects of early surgical excisions and immediate skin homograft coverage were also achieved when formalin-fixed skin homografts were used.