en Burn & Reconstruction Burn & Reconstruction Original Research Original Research <p> <strong> Abstract </strong></p><p> <strong> Background: </strong>Wound infection is a frequent and severe complication in burn patients </p><p>  accounting for a high number of mortalities. There are some reports comparing </p><p>  swab and biopsy cultures of wounds of various etiologies or chronic wounds. </p><p> <strong> Objectives: </strong>The aim of the study was to evaluate burn wound infection by different </p><p>  bacteriologic methods of surface swab and tissue biopsy culture and see if </p><p>  they can predict the outcome. </p><p> <strong> Methods: </strong>Aprospective study was conducted in Shahid Motahari Burn Center, </p><p>  Tehran , on patients suffering from burns with more than 20% of TBSAadmitted in </p><p>  2001-2002. Wound swab and biopsy specimens were collected within the second </p><p>  week. Patients were followed to the point of their discharge or death. </p><p> <strong> Results: </strong>Bacterial growth was reported in 100% of swabs, in 89.3% of the biopsies </p><p>  in differential culture media, and in 18.7% of the biopsies in selective culture </p><p>  media. These different cultures had similar pathogen reports. Of the 75 studied patients, </p><p>  78.7% died. The frequency rates of positive tissue cultures and bacterial load </p><p>  were not different between the dead and those who survived. </p><p> <strong> Conclusion: </strong>Bacteriologic methods do not have enough predictive value to assess </p><p>  clinical outcome. </p> burn, infection, swab, biopsy. 80 85 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-47&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Ali Bahar 20031947532846001599 20031947532846001599 No Burn and Wound Reconstruction Research Center, Shahid Motahari Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Tehran, Iran. Ali Manafi 20031947532846001600 20031947532846001600 No Burn and Wound Reconstruction Research Center, Shahid Motahari Hospital, Iran University ofMedical Sciences and Health Services. Nosratollah Bouduhi 20031947532846001601 20031947532846001601 No Burn and Wound Reconstruction Research Center, Shahid Motahari Hospital, Iran University ofMedical Sciences and Health Services. Hamid Karimi 20031947532846001602 20031947532846001602 No Burn and Wound Reconstruction Research Center, Shahid Motahari Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. Mahshid Hormazdi 20031947532846001603 20031947532846001603 No Iran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. Siamac Esfandi 20031947532846001604 20031947532846001604 No Nikan Health Researchers Institute, Tehran, Iran. Somaye Abdollahi Sabet 20031947532846001605 20031947532846001605 No Nikan Health Researchers Institute, Tehran, Iran. Ali Kabir aikabir@yahoo.com, 20031947532846001606 20031947532846001606 Yes Nikan Health Researchers Institute.Address: Unit 9, No. 1, 3rd floor, 3rdBahar Alley, Ashrafi Isfahani Highway, Poonak Square, Tehran, Iran.