Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Shack fire burns are the second most common reason for admission of patients to the burns unit in Cape Town. A retrospective analysis of 99 patients between January 1993 and June 1995 was undertaken to investigate the demographics and mortality associated with shack fire burns. There were 58 males and 41 females with an average age of 34 years (range 13-17 years). ⋯ Thirty nine patients (39.4 per cent) died. Shack burns are a specific entity associated with significant morbidity and a high mortality. The injuries had a major impact on the victim's life and prevention is the best form of treatment.
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Burns incidence in our country has been on the increase over the past two decades. Cost-effective management of burn wounds has become the prerogative as our annual budget for burn care is limited. We have used human amniotic membrane procured from HbSAg, HIV-seronegative mothers undergoing caesarean section as a temporary biological dressing on superficial and deep partial-thickness burns. ⋯ This type of wound management has been used in 350 cases. It has reduced the number of days stay in hospital and the bulky dressings that are conventional. Considering the patient acceptability, reduced hospital stay and reduction in cost, we find that treatment of superficial and deep partial-thickness burns with amniotic membrane is ideal for a developing country.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Continuous haemofiltration and haemodiafiltration for acute renal failure in severely burned patients.
Among 970 burned patients admitted between April 1987 and September 1994, 16 (1.6 per cent) presented acute renal failure requiring dialytic support and were treated by continuous renal replacement therapy as first-line modality. Their mean burned surface area was 58.0 +/- 5.7 per cent. Acute renal failure mainly occurred in the second week following admission in relation to sepsis and nephrotoxic drugs. ⋯ In conclusion, when aggressive initial fluid resuscitation is applied following burn injury, the occurrence of acute renal failure is low, delayed and multifactorial. Since they are haemodynamically well tolerated and provide a good metabolic and volaemic control, continuous renal replacement therapies appear to be useful modalities for burned patients with acute renal failure. However, as bleeding complications are more frequent, careful monitoring is necessary.
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The burn specific pain anxiety scale (BSPAS) is a nine-item self-report scale for the assessment of pain-related and anticipatory anxiety in burned patients. This paper describes a study designed to explore the psychometric properties of the scale. ⋯ The alpha coefficient was high: 0.94. The BSPAS correlated statistically significantly with the STAI-S, procedural pain, non-procedural pain, and nurses' visual analog observation ratings of tension.