Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Substance use is disproportionately high in burn patients and associated with adverse outcomes. Screening methods for substance use disorders may help predict or avoid adverse outcomes. The University of Utah Burn Center records self-reported Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Tests (AUDIT) and Drug Abuse Screening Tests (DAST-10) for all adult burn admissions. This study assessed for association between AUDIT/DAST-10 scores and burn patient outcomes. ⋯ AUDIT and DAST-10 screens can identify burn patients with problematic substance use, allowing early intervention. Positive screening scores do not independently predict longer hospital stays, increased wound severity, or treatment noncompliance.
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The study aimed to investigate short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) in burns survivors and non-injured controls, and establish whether paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a sensitive tool to investigate SICI after burn-injury. ⋯ These results show that paired-pulse TMS is a useful method for investigating cortical inhibition following burn injury, and that SICI circuits in the primary motor cortex are not affected by minor burn injury. This study presents details for definitive future studies of primary motor cortex function after minor burn injury.
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Third-degree or full-thickness burns refer to lesions that extend to the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. The pathophysiology of burn wounds is characterized by tissue inflammation, edema, and hypertrophic scarring. Farnesol is a natural 15-carbon organic compound that possesses many biological effects. ⋯ On days 7 and 14 post wounding, histopathological observations revealed that the HPMC:farnesol gel ratios of 1:2 and 2:1 exerted the greatest tissue-repairing effects on the skin after third-degree burns compared with skin untreated or treated with a commercial burn gel and HPMC alone. These findings were consistent with the in vivo quantitative collagen-producing assay, wound healing scoring, and IL-6 Western blot results. These findings demonstrated that the fabricated liposomal farnesol gel is potentially able to promote wound healing after third-degree burns.
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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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Burns cause acute damage to the peripheral nervous system with published reports identifying that neurological changes after injury remain for a prolonged period. To shed some light on potential mechanisms, we assessed injury etiology and patterns of nervous system morbidity after injury by comparing long-term hospital admissions data of burns patients and other non-burn trauma patients with uninjured people. ⋯ Results suggest that injury patients are at increased risk of peripheral nervous system morbidity after discharge for a prolonged period of time. The time patterns associated with incident nervous system conditions suggest possible differences in underlying pathology and long-term patient care needs. Further research is needed to elucidate the underlying neuropathology.