Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Multicenter Study
Use of a new hemicellulose dressing (Veloderm) for the treatment of split-thickness skin graft donor sites A within-patient controlled study.
A multi-centre, open, within-patient controlled study was performed on 23 adult burnt patients to investigate the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of Veloderm in comparison with Algisite M and Jaloskin in split-thickness skin graft donor site care. The areas dressed with Veloderm completely healed within 10-13 days in a significant higher proportion than the other two dressings (47.6% for Veloderm versus 26.3% for Algisite M and 10% for Jaloskin, P<0.03), showing during the whole study less incidence of exudates and of peri-lesional erythema. The aesthetic outcome of the treated lesions after healing was significantly better for Veloderm (P=0.0016). ⋯ Both pain during application or at removal of dressings and local infections were negligible with all treatments. No scars were formed in any skin donor site. In conclusion Veloderm is a safe and effective dressing for the re-epithelialization of the skin graft donor sites: it showed higher activity than the other two compared dressings.
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Burn patients commonly exhibit signs of thrombogenicity, theoretically, puts them at risk for thromboembolic complications. However, the literature is controversial, and the real impact of these complications is yet unknown. We reviewed a series of 3331 burned patients to study the incidence of arterial thrombosis, deep venous thrombosis, and pulmonary thromboembolism. ⋯ The other seven patients had deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the inferior extremities and three of them presented with pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). Thrombotic complications represented 3.38% of all deaths in our burn population. Despite the hypercoagulable status of burn patients, thrombotic complication and related mortality continue to have a low impact in this population.
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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.