Diagnostic Accuracy of Laser Doppler Imaging for the Assessment of Burn Depth: A Meta-analysis and Systematic Review

Abstract

Abstract An overall assessment of the diagnostic value of laser Doppler imaging (LDI) to assess burn depth in patients is presented based on relevant studies. Both eligible research and relevant articles were identified through specific index searches of Embase, Cochrane, and PubMed databases. The latest study included was published in March 2019 and all eligible publications reported on cohort or cross-sectional research. All articles were tested for heterogeneity by using a suitable effect model to calculate amalgamative values of sensitivity, specificity, and the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Analyses of summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) are given for burn depth values. After rigorous screening, 14 studies with a total cohort of 1,818 patients were chosen for the meta-analysis to explore the validity of LDI diagnosis to assess the depth of burns. The burn depth overall sensitivity for LDI was 91% (95% CI: 86–95%) and global specificity was 96% (95% CI: 92–98%). The overall positive likelihood ratio of LDI was 20.35 (95% CI: 10.71–38.69) and the overall negative likelihood ratio was 0.09 (95% CI: 0.05–0.15). The overall DOR was 152.93 (95% CI: 69.44–336.81) of LDI. The acreage under the SROC was not low for LDI (AUC = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.96–0.99). In conclusion, the present analysis reviewed the literature and meta-analysis of studies to validate LDI for the diagnosis of burn depth. The results indicated that LDI has a high accuracy for this diagnostic function.