Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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The occurrence of hypertrophic scarring in burn-injured children under the age of 5 years was studied by examining the records of patients admitted to the Wessex Regional Burns Unit in the years 1968 and 1984. In both years the pattern and nature of injury to the children was the same. The incidence of scar hypertrophy was at least 50 per cent in both years. The occurrence of hypertrophic scarring in these 2 years did not appear to have been influenced by changes in clinical practice.
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Comparative Study
Systemic absorption of sulphadiazine, silver sulphadiazine and sodium sulphadiazine through human burn wounds.
Systemic absorption of water-soluble and water-insoluble drugs through human burn wounds was compared. Serum levels of sulphadiazine were estimated after application of silver sulphadiazine (water-insoluble) cream, sulphadiazine (water-insoluble) cream and sodium sulphadiazine (water-soluble) cream. It was found that the absorption of sodium sulphadiazine was greater than that of sulphadiazine or silver sulphadiazine.
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Comparative Study
Wound contraction following transplantation of microskin autografts with overlaid skin allograft in experimental animals.
The wound contraction associated with a new grafting technique, transplantation of microskin autografts with overlaid skin allograft, was evaluated in a rat model. Male inbred Lewis rats were used as microskin autograft recipients while Buffalo rats were used as allogeneic skin graft donors providing a sheet allograft for overlay. ⋯ The results showed that the application of autologous microskin grafting with allograft overlay was associated with more scar contraction than was the use of a sheet isograft. Maximum contraction to 43 per cent of the original size appeared at 7 weeks postgrafting in the microskin grafting group, while in the sheet isografting group the greatest contraction occurred at 4 weeks postgrafting when it retained 72 per cent of the original size.
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A survey of 11 fire disasters which have occurred since 1970, showed that incidents occurring outdoors resulted in larger numbers of hospital admissions, with more severe injuries, than incidents occurring indoors. While the majority of burn casualties sustained burns covering less than 30 per cent body surface area (BSA), outdoor disasters resulted in the admission of a significant number of patients with burns covering more than 70 per cent BSA. ⋯ However, the scarcity of burn facilities is such that involvement of distant centres may be anticipated following large disasters. While effective early management extends the time available for the dispersal of casualties, delays may be avoided by prior planning, especially if the international transfer of patients is envisaged.