Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Previous articles assessed the evidence-base for the treatment of burns, but the latest was published in 2010, examining data up to and inclusive of 2008. The aim of this article is to examine the trend in the number of high-evidence publications over the subsequent 11-year period and quality-assess RCTs within this timeframe. ⋯ This study observes a positive trend in high-evidence publications. The reporting of several CONSORT criteria in RCTs remains poor. Observation to standard reporting guidelines is advocated to improve the quality of reporting.
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A burn injury is a very painful experience, with subsequent emotional problems, which have been gaining relevance to the extent that survival from burns has improved. Among the alterations of the mental sphere in this population is Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) that has been described in up to one-third of patients with major burns. ⋯ Acute stress disorder is frequent in the hospitalised burn population, and is more frequent than in other types of trauma. Associated factors with the presentation of Acute Stress Disorder are the feeling of life threat at the time of the burn, having pain classified as strong (Visual Analog Scale (VAS) 5-10), electrical burn, and burns in special areas.
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Due to medical advances, care for patients that experience burns has shifted from saving life to improving quality of life. Reintegrating into the community and maintain body image satisfaction may be difficult after a severe burn. Several studies have analyzed these two variables independently, but none have addressed a potential interrelationship. ⋯ The finding that symptoms of distress and social stigma account for the relationship between body image satisfaction and community integration support the potential for interventions that ameliorate distress to improve community integration and quality of life in people recovering from burn injuries.
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Since burns affect body image, they cause appearance anxiety. Interventions designed to reduce appearance anxiety that can cause psychological problems such as depression are important. This study aimed to determine the social appearance anxiety of individuals following burns and the factors affecting it and to examine the relationship between social appearance anxiety and perceived social support. ⋯ The results of this study show that social support does not affect social appearance anxiety. In this respect, we recommend that interventions such as reconstruction and professional psychological support initiatives be prioritized for individuals with burn trauma who are evaluated to have high social appearance anxiety by the appearance anxiety scales.
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A critical need exists for early, accurate diagnosis of burn wound severity to help identify the course of treatment and outcome of the wound. Laser speckle imaging (LSI) is a promising blood perfusion imaging approach, but it does not account for changes in tissue optical properties that can occur with burn wounds, which are highly dynamic environments. Here, we studied optical property dynamics following burn injury and debridement and the associated impact on interpretation of LSI measurements of skin perfusion. ⋯ SFDI measurements demonstrate that optical properties change in response to burn injury in a porcine model. We then apply theoretical modeling to demonstrate that the measured range of optical property changes can affect the interpretation of LSI measurements of blood flow, but this effect is minimal for most of the measured data. Collectively, our results indicate that, even with a dynamic burn wound environment, blood-flow measurements with LSI can serve as an appropriate strategy for accurate assessment of burn severity.