Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Case Reports
Citric acid treatment of severe electric burns complicated by multiple antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
A case of severe electric burns complicated by multiple antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa not responding to various antibiotics administered systemically is presented. Citric acid (3%) was used successfully to eliminate Pseudomonas aeruginosa from burn wounds and infection was completely controlled in 14 days. Citric acid treatment is evidently of value in the clinical control of burn wound colonization caused by difficult strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
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Comparative Study
Topical D-myo-inositol-1,2,6-trisphosphate and hexylbetaine treatment reduces albumin extravasation in experimental rat skin burn injury.
The anti-inflammatory agent D-myo-inositol-1,2,6-trisphosphate (1,2,6-IP3) has shown beneficial effects in experimental burns following systemic administration. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of topical 1,2,6-IP3 cream on a standardised full-thickness 1 cm2 burn injury in rats. The experimental cream contained a transcutaneous absorption enhancer, hexylbetaine. ⋯ The transcutaneous absorption enhancer hexylbetaine did not further improve the effect of 1,2,6-IP3 on burn oedema. In conclusion, both topical 1,2,6-IP3 and hexylbetaine induced a significant reduction of albumin extravasation in burned skin. The effect of 1,2,6-IP3 could be related to previously shown anti-inflammatory actions of the agent, while the mechanisms of actions of hexylbetaine remain to be investigated.
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Case Reports
Scalds in children caused by water from electrical kettles: effect of prevention through information.
Electrical kettles (el-kettles) were virtually unknown in Danish households in the mid-1980s, but have since become more common. In 1996, (65 per cent of all Danish households had an el-kettle. As the number of el-kettles have increased, so have the number of scalds caused by water from toppled el-kettles. ⋯ In 1993 campaigns were started to inform parents that the cord of the el-kettle should be short and not hang over the edge of the table. In the following years a considerable decrease in the number of el-kettle scalds was found. When the number of expected el-kettle scalds was estimated from the number of Danish households having an el-kettle, it was found that more than half the expected number of el-kettle scalds were avoided.
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This retrospective analysis of burn patients in a University Hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, was carried out to characterize this population and to identify the factors that affect the mortality rate. All patients hospitalized from January 1990 to April 1995 (n = 229, 3.6 patients/month) and who terminated treatment were included. Of these, 80.8% (185 patients) were hospitalized within 24 h of the burn. ⋯ The mortality rate was 18.8% for all patients and increased with burned body surface and age, and for suicide patients. Suicide attempts for all patients > or = 18 years were the cause of 46 .5% (20/43) of the burns involving women and of 8.9% (8/90) of the burns involving men. The mortality rate was significantly higher for self-inflicted burns (42.9%) than for accidental burns (20.2%).