Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association
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Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is a strong inorganic acid commonly used in many domestic and industrial settings. It is one of the most common chemical burns encountered in a burn center and frequently engenders controversy in its management. We report our 15 year experience with management of HF burns. ⋯ The most common cause was air conditioner cleaner (8 patients, 23%). HF is a common cause of chemical burns. Although hospital admission is usually required for vigorous treatment and pain control, burn size is usually small and does not cause electrolyte abnormalities, significant morbidity, or death.
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The use of explosives and suicide bombings has become more frequent since October 2000. This change in the nature of terror attacks has marked a new era in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We previously reported that the incidence of thermal injuries has since risen. ⋯ The burn/terror group had a mortality rate of 6.4% which was similar to the no-burn/terror group (6.6%). Terror-attack injuries with accompanying burns have a more complex presentation, are of higher severity, and are associated with increased length of hospital stay and a higher ICU admissions rate, compared with terror-attack injuries without burns and non terror-attack related burns. However, mortality rates in terror-attack injuries are not affected by burns.
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Necrotizing soft-tissue infections (NSTI) are often life-threatening illnesses that may be best treated at specialty care facilities such as burn centers. However, little is known about current treatment patterns nationwide. The purpose of this study was to describe the referral patterns for treatment of NSTI using a multistate discharge database and to investigate the differences in patients with NSTIs treated at burn centers and nonburn centers. ⋯ Total length of stay was also longer at burn centers (22.1 vs 16.0 days, P < .01). Based on a national discharge database, the majority of patients with NSTI are treated at nonburn centers. However, patients treated at burn centers were more likely to be transferred from nonburn centers, had longer lengths of stay, and underwent more operations, all of which are likely attributable to a greater severity of infection.
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Marjolin's ulcers are uncommon malignancies arising from previously traumatized, chronically inflamed or scarred skin. They are usually squamous cell carcinomas and arise most often after burns, and they may present decades after the original insult. ⋯ A case of Marjolin's ulcer is presented occurring on a lower limb stump 68 years following from a burn in infancy. The cause, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of Marjolin's ulcer are discussed.
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The tumescent technique, which involves injection of large volumes of dilute epinephrine solution into subcutaneous fat, has been shown to markedly increase the safety of liposuction surgery, which is associated with risks of blood loss. The authors use this technique during burn surgery and developed a practical method of determining the amount of solution injected. The authors have applied the tumescent technique consisting of subeschar infiltration of dilute epinephrine (1 mg/L) in thermoneutral (37 degrees C) saline. ⋯ Ten consecutive patients underwent 15 surgical procedures for tangential excision and split-thickness skin grafting. There were no complications during the intraoperative or postoperative period. Their method using a grid pattern drawn on the tissue being treated by the tumescent technique in burn surgery facilitates the excision of burn eschar.