Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Randomized Controlled Trial
High-voltage electric stimulation of the donor site of skin grafts accelerates the healing process. A randomized blinded clinical trial.
Severe burns benefit from skin grafting, and grafting surgery is of great importance in the treatment of these injuries. As a result, there is formation of an additional wound at the donor site, which is painful and susceptible to infection. However, the therapeutic approach to these problems at donor sites for skin grafting is insufficiently explored in the literature. ⋯ As a result of the study, the technology shows promise and merits a larger study with objective assessments and different physical variables.
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To compare hospitalisations for diabetes mellitus (DM) after injury experienced by burn patients, non-burn trauma patients and people with no record of injury admission, adjusting for socio-demographic, health and injury factors. ⋯ Burn and non-burn trauma patients experienced elevated rates of DM admissions after injury compared to the non-injured cohort over the duration of the study. While burn patients were at increased risk of incident DM admissions during the first 5-years after the injury this was not the case for non-burn trauma patients. Sub-group analyses showed elevated risk in both adult and pediatric patients in the burn and non-burn trauma. Detailed clinical data are required to help understand the underlying pathogenic pathways triggered by burn and non-burn trauma. This study identified treatment needs for patients after burn and non-burn trauma for a prolonged period after discharge.
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Journal clubs allow discussion of the quality and findings of recent publications. However, journal clubs have not historically been multidisciplinary. Burn care is recognized as a true collaborative care model, including regular multidisciplinary rounds. Since 2011 we have offered a multidisciplinary burn journal club at our institution. We present an evaluation of the factors that have made the sessions successful to facilitate others to commence their own club. ⋯ The success of the journal club has been possible through the engagement of the entire burn team. Champions within each discipline, facilitated discussion and evaluation tools have helped nurture a nonthreatening team based learning environment.
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Upper airway injuries can be fatal in burn patients if not recognized, a scenario that causes a significant amount of anxiety for physicians providing initial assessment of burn patients. Early elective intubation is often performed; sometimes unnecessarily. However, some providers employ nasolaryngoscopy for patients presenting with facial burns or signs/symptoms of upper airway injury in order to assess the need for intubation, but this practice is not considered standard of care and may also be unnecessary. Evidence is currently lacking about the utility of nasolaryngoscopy as an adjuvant assessment during evaluation of potential upper airway burn injuries. The objective of this study was to determine if nasolaryngoscopy provides additional information to the history and physical in making the decision to electively intubate patients with facial burns. ⋯ This study showed disparity between signs and symptoms of airway injury and nasolaryngoscopy findings. Asymptomatic patients showed pathologic changes in 30% of scopes, but this finding only changed management 1% of the time. Furthermore, the two patients in this group were extubated quickly, suggesting they may have been suitable for observation without intubation. These results indicate that the presence of erythema or edema is of questionable clinical significance in asymptomatic patients and nasolaryngoscopy is of limited benefit in this group. Only 50% of the symptomatic patients with airway injury evident on nasolaryngoscopy were actually intubated, also bringing into question the significance of the pathologic changes in this group. However, negative nasolaryngoscopy may have had some benefit in preventing intubation in a few, select symptomatic patients. This study suggests that a thorough history and physical is the best tool to identify patients at higher risk of upper airway injury who need intubation, but this should be further studied in prospective trials to determine the definitive role of nasolaryngoscopy.
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Scalds are the most common cause of burns in children, yet there is little information available about the inflammatory response. The aim of the study was to investigate the response to treatment with antibiotics among scalded children by following the C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, procalcitonin (PCT) concentration, and white blood cell count (WCC) during the first two weeks after injury. ⋯ The CRP response, among children with minor scalds treated with antibiotics, shows an appreciable rise during the first week of injury that subsided rapidly during the second week.