Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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The number of burns in Portugal remains considerably large and therefore constitutes a major public health problem. There is a shortage of studies describing the epidemiological and clinical impact of seasonality on burn centre admissions, particularly in high income countries. ⋯ Winter seems to be associated with older patients and with the most severe burns (deeper and more often needing surgery). This study was designed to fill the gap in seasonal burn profile in Portugal and it helps in establishing preventive strategies and better resource allocation.
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Biofilm forms when bacteria surrounded by an extracellular matrix aggregate on a surface. It can develop on many surfaces, including wound dressings; this can be particularly nefarious for burn patients undergoing skin grafting (autograft) for burn wound coverage as they often suffer from compromised immune system function. Autograft donor sites are particularly vulnerable to biofilm formation; as such, timely healing of these sites is essential. ⋯ Samples of each wound dressing, which were in contact with the skin graft donor site, were prepared for analysis under the scanning electron microscope (SEM) using an original method developed by our research group that aims to maintain the integrity of the biofilm microstructure. Samples prepared by this method were then analyzed using SEM, which allowed the characterization of biofilm and the evaluation of bacterial density on the studied dressing samples. To this day, this imaging technique has been rarely employed for dressing analysis and this is the first time that it is employed for in situ biofilm visualization for this particular application.
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Observational Study
Candidemia in major burn patients and its possible risk factors: A 6-year period retrospective study at a burn ICU.
The aims of this study were to evaluate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of candidemia in a typical burn ICU, and to determine the risk factors associated with candidemia among major burn patients. ⋯ Candidemia has a high incidence and mortality in major burn patients. The changes in etiology and drug sensitivity may make new challenges for the management of candidemia in burn ICUs.
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Burns are physically debilitating and potentially fatal injuries. The standard-of-care for burn wounds is the coverage with gauze dressings designed to minimize trauma to the regenerating epidermis and dermis during dressing changes. However, deep partial- and full-thickness burns always heal slowly when standard wound care alone is performed. We have previously reported that peptide amphiphile (PA) gels, pH-induced self-assembling nanostructured fibrous scaffolds, promote cell proliferation and have great potential in regenerative medicine for rapid repair of tissues. In this study, we hypothesized that the PA gels are capable of accelerating wound healing in burn injury. ⋯ This biomaterial represents a new therapeutic strategy to overcome current clinical challenges in the treatment of injuries resulting from burns.