This supported the theory that the
amount of heat delivered, and the rate of dissipation to a
temperature below the critical threshold for tissue damage
determined the severity of the burn. However, when the same
study created scalds to the tails and backs of rats, cooling at
low temperatures resulted in high mortality, even with tail
scalds only representing a few percent total body surface area
(TBSA), but better results in terms of histological necrosis and
oedema. It was concluded that a balance was required
between hypothermia and cooling the burn.