Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Burn accounts for a significant proportion of injuries, and of these, the face, neck, and anterior torso are commonly affected. Burn scars remain a lasting reminder of the insult both for the patient and the outside world. There is little doubt that the changes in appearance, and limitations imposed by the burn scar contribute to a negative body image. ⋯ These women were noted to have poor body image in areas less affected by burn injury, notably breast ptosis, breast asymmetry and abdominal skin laxity. They were suitable candidates for planned aesthetic procedures, and the skin excised was used to effect synchronous burn reconstruction or contracture release. We believe the potential to use areas of skin excised during aesthetic procedures as possible donor sites of full thickness skin, confers the dual benefits of improved aesthetic and functional outcome, while minimising unnecessary donor site morbidity.
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Optimal burn care is provided at specialized burn centers. Given the geographic location of these centers, many burn patients receive initial treatment at local emergency departments prior to transfer. The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients transferred from other facilities have worse outcomes than those admitted directly from the field. ⋯ This study demonstrates that patients transferred to a regional burn center from local hospitals have equivalent mortality, length of stay and hospital charges as those admitted directly from the field.
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Multicenter Study
Evidence for the link between healing time and the development of hypertrophic scars (HTS) in paediatric burns due to scald injury.
The relationship between burn depth, healing time and the development of hypertrophic scarring (HTS) is well recognised by burn surgeons but is seldom mentioned in the published literature. We studied 337 children with scalds whose scars were monitored for up to 5 years. ⋯ If skin grafting is undertaken there is a much higher incidence of HTS in the 10-14 days group: 10-14 days=33%, 15-21 days=19%, 22-25 days=54%, 26-30 days=64% and over 30 days=88%. We conclude that there is a low risk of HTS formation in scalds healed before 21 days, and that surgery should be reserved for scalds likely to take more than 21 days to heal.