Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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To evaluate health status, impact of event, anxiety, and depression in burn victims at five-to-seven months after hospital discharge, and to explore the association between those variables with age, body surface area burn (BSA), sex, and marital status. ⋯ Burn victims reported good health status on average, which was negatively correlated with reported depression, anxiety, impact of event, LOS, number of operations, and BSA. These findings suggest that general health might be improved by interventions that target modifiable behavioral factors, such as support groups and cognitive behavioral therapies.
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The study aims to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in burn patients in China and find out principal influencing factors, so as to provide evidence for interventions. ⋯ QOL decreased in burn patients to different degrees depending on the intensity of burns. With a better understanding of influencing factors of burn patients' QOL, the medical and nursing staff can take specific countermeasures to help patients gain a higher QOL.
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Case Reports
Perioperative visual loss after excision and autografting of a thermal burn to the back.
Peri-operative visual loss is an uncommon and poorly understood entity whose severity launched a Practice Advisory to identify peri-operative risk factors including prone positioning, anemia, hypotension, blood loss >44.7% of EBV, and surgical time >4-6.5 h. Contributing co-morbidities are obesity, tobacco, malnutrition, and PAD, which reduce blood flow to the optic nerve. We describe a patient with POVL focusing on the peri-operative course defined as the immediate preoperative assessment through discharge to compare the hospital course with previous reports of POVL in cardiac and spine operations.ss A middle-aged man admitted to the burn unit with 10% deep partial and full thickness burns to the back and neck underwent excision and autografting while prone. ⋯ Blood loss was estimated to be 43.7% of EBV. Risk factors for POVL are present in many prone burn operations as these patients have long operative times and significant blood loss. Thus, minimization of these factors where possible is advised.
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Hair straighteners have become a popular and common household appliance. The incidence of burns from these devices is rising, and is of particular concern given that the main casualties are infants. We present the largest case series in the literature of paediatric burns from hair straightening devices. ⋯ Hair straightening devices can reach temperatures of over 220°C and can cause significant full thickness injuries. Our study shows that infants and toddlers are at most risk. These are preventable burns that warrant our attention, and we would advocate the use of heat-resistant pouches and closure clips on the devices to help minimise the risk of injury.