OBJECTIVETo collect the data of measuring skin thickness of children of both genders of different ages and parts of body with non-invasive high-frequency ultrasound method.

METHODSTwo hundred and twenty-one children from 1 to 18 years of age,without systemic disease or injury in skin, were enrolled in the study and divided into 4 groups: i.e., infant group (112 years of age), pre-school age group (3-6 years of age), school age group (7-12 years for boys and 7-11 years for girls), adolescent age group (13-18 years for boys and 12-18 years for girls), and each group was subdivided into 2 groups according to the gender. The skin thicknesses of children in cheek, chest, abdomen, forearms, fundament and thigh was respectively measured by 13 MHz high-frequency ultrasound.

RESULTSThe region with thinnest skin in children was the cheek, and the thickest was the back and buttock. (1) There were no significant differences in thickness of skin in the same region between genders and also among different age groups (P > 0.05). (2) There were also no obvious differences of thickness of the dermis and the whole skin in the same region between male and female, or among infants, pre-school age and school age groups (P > 0.05). In adolescent group, the average thickness of dermis in male was (1.16 +/- 0.04 ) - (1.98 +/- 0.47) mm, the average whole thickness of skin in male was (1.27 +/- 0.12) - (2.20 +/- 0.45) mm, while those of female were (1.00 +/- 0.18) - (1.60 +/- 0.30) mm and (1.10 +/- 0.17) - (1.83 +/- 0.29) mm (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONIt is reliable to measure the skin thickness by 13MHz ultrasound as a non-invasive method. The main factor which determined the thickness of the skin is dermal thickness, especially in males. The significant differences of skin thickness among cheek, back and buttock provide the basis for us to choose the appropriate thickness of skin grafts harvested from different body parts.