pH of a burn wound

We noted that many of the chemical burns admitted to our Paediatric Burns Centre had undergone and continued to undergo lengthy periods of irrigation in an attempt to restore the skin to a normal pH. This was causing distress to younger patients. However, following the initial irrigation, the pH did not seem to change significantly and were reported as not reaching normal, despite patients being pain free with no ongoing skin changes. This led us to question the effectiveness of monitoring the pH as a marker for adequate irrigation of chemical burns and whether a normal skin pH was an appropriate end point of irrigation.
Source: Burns : Journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries - Category: Cosmetic Surgery Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research