A Rapid Section Technique for Burn Wound Biopsy

At the US Army Institute of Surgical Research, histologic diagnosis of infection using burn wound biopsies has proved superior to quantitative culture methods and is considered the most accurate method for distinguishing between microbial colonization and invasive infection of burn wounds. Although the frozen section technique is faster and is often useful, rapid section technique is the method of choice for histologic evaluation of burn wound biopsies. This technique takes about four hours to complete, yields permanent sections, and can be accomplished in any conventional histology laboratory. (Reprints).