Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Comparative Study
Early nonsurgical removal of chemically injured tissue enhances wound healing in partial thickness burns.
Chemical burns are slow healing injuries and their depth is difficult to assess. Tissue destruction continues as long as active material is present in the wound site. The routine therapy for treatment of full thickness chemical burns is early excision; it shortens hospitalization and reduces morbidity. ⋯ Laser ablation was most effective and accelerated healing of burn lesions after 'dry' exposure to 5 mg NM. The histopathology score of the laser treated burns was higher on day 4 compared to untreated controls. It is concluded that for partial thickness chemical burns early nonsurgical removal of the damaged tissues accelerates wound healing.
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Multicenter Study
The epidemiology of burns in secondary care, in a population of 2.6 million people.
The numbers of residents of the four counties in the west of Anglia and Oxford Region (UK) who were treated for burns (including scalds) in accident and emergency (A&E) departments or admitted to hospital in 1994-95 were obtained from A&E departments and district health authority records. Burns comprised about 1 per cent of the workload in the A&E departments. ⋯ Approximately half the patients admitted to hospital with burns were admitted to burns units, a quarter to plastic surgery wards and the rest to different specialties including trauma and orthopaedics, paediatrics, and ophthalmology. The median length of stay was 6 days for burns units and 3 days for plastic surgery units.
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Comparative Study
Burn mortality in Chandigarh zone: 25 years autopsy experience from a tertiary care hospital of India.
An analysis of autopsy records of burn victims revealed that most burn deaths occurred in the age group 21-40 years (67 per cent) with female preponderance (61 per cent) in all age groups except in the extreme age groups. 62 per cent of burn cases originated in urban areas. The majority of subjects (99 per cent females and 76 per cent males) died as a result of flame burns. Kerosene was the most common factor (76 per cent) in burn deaths. 11 per cent of deaths were due to the stove bursting and 27 per cent of victims died due to leakage of oil from the stove. 39 per cent of subjects sustained burns when their clothes caught fire. ⋯ Among males, burn deaths were more common (85 per cent) in those who were living alone, away from their families; whereas in women the incidence of burn deaths was higher (74 per cent) in those living with their families. The majority of deaths due to burns occurred within one week (77 per cent) of the incident. Septicaemia was the major cause of death (55 per cent).
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Mustard gas (MS) has been used in chemical warfare since World War I. The blistering skin lesions are slow to heal. Secondary inflammation might occur, as well as damage to organs distant from the original wound. ⋯ Each of the SOD compounds reduced dramatically burn lesion area when administered intraperitoneally/intralesionally (i.p./i.l.) before wound infliction. The protective action of the SODs was also evident in the significantly higher histopathological score of biopsies obtained on day 7 from local tissue, caused with the lower dose of MS. When the SOD compounds were administered i.p. 1 hour after burn infliction, and repeated daily for 7 days, no protective effect could be detected under the present experimental conditions.
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In the Western World self-immolation is an uncommon but dramatic method of attempting suicide. In-patients who attempt suicide by fire-setting tend to be female with severe psychopathology. In a previous study from the South of Ireland, seven cases from a psychiatric and prison population were identified in a five year period from 1984 to 1989. ⋯ Ten of these patients had a previous psychiatric history and eight of them were resident on a psychiatric ward when they committed the act. Seven of the patients were found to have a high degree of suicide intent of whom four died of their injuries, which gives a mortality rate for this group of 33 per cent. Effective prevention policies are necessary if this increasing problem is to be curtailed.