Relationship of hairless mouse skin surface temperature to wound severity and maturation time.

Skin surface temperature (SST) changes measured on live hairless mice are presented as a simple means of following wound healing. SST is generally determined by 3 factors which are the ambient temperature, the rate of water loss from the surface of the skin and the diffusion of thermal energy from the body's core. The SST increase immediately after a burn injury reflects the amount of thermal energy absorbed by the skin surface. For burns and other injuries, the drop in SST following injury, but after thermal equilibrium has been established, provides an early indication of the degree of impairment of the skin's barrier. Three kinds of mouse skin wounds, mechanical (tape stripping), thermal and chemical (phenol application), were investigated. SST nadirs ranged from 2.1 to 4.4 degrees C with mild to full-thickness burns, respectively. Except for the earliest moments after wounding, striking parallels were noted between SST and transepidermal water loss profiles for these injuries. The SST profile over the full course of wound healing clearly indicates the severity of the injury, the stages of wound maturation and the time to complete skin healing.