Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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To perform a descriptive analysis of blast injury patients from the Tianjin explosions that occurred August 12, 2015 and provide a reference for triage and treatment of patients in similar situations in the future. ⋯ Various types of injury, with overlapping injuries present in many patients, were observed in the victims after the Tianjin explosions. An evaluation of the distribution of blast injuries is important for optimizing strategies to triage and treat survivors after mass casualty events.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effective symptomatic treatment for severe and intractable pruritus associated with severe burn-induced hypertrophic scars: A prospective, multicenter, controlled trial.
Burn-induced hypertrophic scars are disfiguring and can be associated with severe and intractable pruritus. No effective treatment modalities are currently available for symptomatic control of pruritus for most patients. We assessed the effect of the Antipruritic Hydrogel (CQ-01) in the symptomatic treatment of severe and intractable pruritus associated with burn-induced hypertrophic scars in a prospective, multicenter, controlled trial. ⋯ This prospective, multicenter, controlled study showed that this novel hydrogel CQ-01 is safe and provides significant symptomatic relief for severe and intractable pruritus associated with hypertrophic scars, an unmet medical need for these patients. This effect is independent of the etiology of the burn trauma, extent of the scarring, and duration of the scar formation.
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Burn wound conversion describes the process by which superficial partial thickness burns convert into deeper burns necessitating surgical intervention. Fully understanding and thus controlling this phenomenon continues to defy burn surgeons. However, potentially guiding burn wound progression so as to obviate the need for surgery while still bringing about healing with limited scarring is the major unmet challenge. ⋯ The majority of recent research focuses on applying therapies from other disease processes to common underlying pathogenic mechanisms in burn conversion. While ischemia, inflammation, and free oxygen radicals continue to demonstrate a critical role in secondary necrosis, novel mechanisms such as autophagy have also been shown to contribute affect significantly burn progression significantly. Further research will have to determine whether multiple mechanisms should be targeted when developing clinical therapies.
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Review Case Reports
Suprathel(®) for severe burns in the elderly: Case report and review of the literature.
Large burns in aged patients are common and treatment often reveals challenging. Cardiovascular complications significantly contribute to the unfavorable prognosis in this group of high-risk patients. Pain medication and sedation can negatively influence cardiovascular stability. ⋯ We present the case of an 81-year-old patient with 51% of total burned body surface area (ABSI=12), who was completely treated with Suprathel(®). Despite a predicted mortality of more than 80%, the patient survived and was discharged home without significant handicaps 69 days after burn. We hypothesize that Suprathel(®) beneficially contributed to the favorable clinical course of this critical patient as less frequent wound-dressing changes did not induce additional pain or sedative medication and thus improved cardiovascular stability.