effective removal of necrotic burned tissue is a key step in the treatment of all deep partial thickness and full thickness burn wounds. it aims to promote wound healing, reduce bacterial colonization and infection, is the basis for optimal wound bed conditioning, and thus prevents devastating scarring. especially in severely injured patients with a high extent of burned surface, early eschar removal is as important as optimal intensive care treatment to optimize outcomes and reduce complications.
to date the conventional method of tangential excision by knife as introduced 50 years ago[2] is still the most applied technique of eschar removal worldwide. nevertheless, several further techniques have been developed and became popular in the past decades. hydrosurgery as most established additional technique for example enables the surgeon to achieve a more selective debridement of the burn wound by an adjustable water jet.