Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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The role of cooling in the acute management of burns is widely accepted in clinical practice, and is a cornerstone of basic first aid in burns. This has been underlined in a number of animal models. The mechanism by which it delivers its benefit is poorly understood, but there is a reduction in burns progression over the first 48 h, reduced healing time, and some subjective improvements in scarring when cooling is administered after burning. ⋯ Animal models have used oedema formation, preservation of dermal perfusion, healing time and hair retention as indicators of burns severity, and have shown cooling to improve these indices, but pharmacological or immunological blockade of humoural and cellular mediators of inflammation did not reproduce the benefit of cooling. More recently, some studies of tissue from human and animal burns have shown consistent, reproducible, temporal changes in gene expression in burned tissues. Here, we review the experimental evidence of the role and mechanism of cooling in burns management, and suggest future research directions that may eventually lead to improved treatment outcomes.
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Review Comparative Study
The use of split-thickness versus full-thickness skin graft to resurface volar aspect of pediatric burned hands: A systematic review.
The aim of this systematic review was to discuss the comparison of split-thickness skin graft (STSG) and full-thickness skin graft (FTSG) use as the treatment for volar digital and palmar burns in children. ⋯ Currently, there is no strong, high-quality evidence to prove that FTSG is superior to STSG to cover pediatric palmar burns. Either FTSG or STSG can be utilized with consideration of several influential factors especially splinting and physiotherapy.
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After burn, patients are at risk of fatigue which may influence negatively their capacity to participate in activity, rehabilitation and other treatments. Fatigue may stem from the wound healing and systemic responses to burn which drive a hypermetabolic state that may persist for months. However, an established method is not available for objectively measuring fatigue after burns. The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) was hypothesised to be an appropriate option for assessments following severe burn. The primary aim of the study was to establish if the BFI was reliable and valid in a burn patient sample. ⋯ The BFI is a reliable and valid tool for fatigue measurement in patients during the first 12 months after burn.
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To synthesise and evaluate the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions to prevent scalds in children. ⋯ Education, home safety checks along with thermometers or thermostatic mixing valves should be promoted to reduce tap water scalds. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on scald injuries and to disentangle the effects of multifaceted interventions on scald injuries and safety practices.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Randomized controlled trial of three burns dressings for partial thickness burns in children.
This study compared the effects of three silver dressing combinations on small to medium size acute partial thickness burns in children, focusing on re-epithelialization time, pain and distress during dressing changes. ⋯ Mepilex Ag™ is an effective silver dressing, in terms of accelerated wound re-epithelialization time (compared to Acticoat™ and Acticoat™ with Mepitel™) and decreased pain during dressing changes (compared to Acticoat™), for clean, < 10% TBSA partial thickness burns in children.