Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Partial thickness burns of up to 10% total body surface area (TBSA) in children are common injuries primarily treated in the outpatient setting using expensive silver-containing dressings. However, economic evaluations in the paediatric burns population are lacking to assist healthcare providers when choosing which dressing to use. The aim of this study was to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of three silver dressings for partial thickness burns ≤10% TBSA in children aged 0-15 years using days to full wound re-epithelialization as the health outcome. ⋯ This economic evaluation has demonstrated that Mepilex Ag™ was the dominant dressing choice over both Acticoat™ and Acticoat™ with Mepitel™ in this trial-based economic evaluation and is recommended for treatment of paediatric partial thickness burns ≤10% TBSA.
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It is important to minimize time to healing in the donor site after split-thickness skin grafting (STSG). It has been shown that minced skin grafting improves the appearance of the STSG donor site. The objective of this study was to investigate whether mincing the leftover harvested skin and grafting it back onto the donor site during minced grafting (MG) reduces healing time of the donor site. ⋯ MG of the STSG donor site reduced the average time to healing by approximately 4days (9.1 vs. 13.2). This effect was independent from the size of the donor site and MG/STSG mass ratio. This procedure, which makes use of skin leftovers after skin grafting, should be performed prior to applying wound covering material as a means of reducing time to healing and level of patient's discomfort.
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Allografts are in constant demand, not only for burn victims, but also for all open wounds as "biological dressings". Tissue quality and security are two of the major concerns of Tissue Banks. There are limited studies published. ⋯ In the histological structure evaluation changes were minimal and did not alter the skin structure. The clinical function of their behavior as temporal dressings was tested. They proved to have similar capabilities for improving granulating tissue and contributing to wound beds closure (Hickerson et al. (1994) [1]).
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This study aimed to determine if a scar quality is associated with quality of life (QoL) at six months post-burn and beyond. ⋯ mVSS total score, gender and burn size data may be a useful adjunct to experienced clinical judgment for identifying at risk patients and directing appropriate, timely resource allocation.
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Peripheral neuropathy is the most frequent disabling neuromuscular complication of burns. However, the insidious and progressive onset of burn neuropathy makes it often undiagnosed or overlooked. In our study, we reviewed the current studies on the burn-related peripheral neuropathy to summarize the morbidity, mechanism, detecting method and management of peripheral neuropathy in burn patients. ⋯ Surgical procedures, especially nerve decompression, showed good effect on functional recovery of both acute and delayed peripheral neuropathy in burn patients. It is noteworthy that, for early detection and prevention of peripheral neuropathy, electrodiagnostic examinations should be performed on burn patients independent of symptoms. Still, the underlying mechanisms of burn-related peripheral neuropathy remain to be clarified.