Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Hot water bottles (HWBs) are a common domestic item in the UK. Their use is associated with burns injuries, either by contact for prolonged periods with the skin, or through the HWB leaking or bursting. ⋯ There are a significant proportion of patients presenting with HWB burns that could be prevented, with significant impact on patient morbidity and resource burden on the NHS. Targeted public awareness campaigns are needed to ameliorate these injuries.
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The purpose of this study is to use a retrospective cohort of burn patients to evaluate the contribution of oxandrolone on burn care outcomes. Longitudinal clinical data is used to analyze outcomes from a new perspective. Our random-effects longitudinal regression analysis model used temporal clinical data to evaluate oxandrolone's impact on outcomes (oxandrolone/non-oxandrolone n=50/11, median length of stay [LOS]=42.2/39.3, mean weight (kg)=192.2/207.6, mean initial prealbumin (mg/dL) 10.1/7.5). ⋯ Prealbumin over time was also influenced by initial value (0.293mg/dL, p=0.003), LOS (0.072mg/dL increase per additional day, p<0.001), and the presence of inhalation injury (2.652mg/dL decrease if present, p=0.009). Oxandrolone appears to benefit anabolic protein production. It is difficult to isolate the role of oxandrolone on major outcomes due to the concomitant influence of other variables.
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In many parts of the world, hydrotherapy plays an important role in the management of patients with wounds including burns. Different centers practice hydrotherapy differently. At the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, burn patients use a common bathtub for cleaning their wounds which theoretically increases the risk of cross-infection, an important source of morbidity and mortality. There is currently no evidence that hydrotherapy as practiced at our institution leads to cross infection among patients with burns. ⋯ Hydrotherapy as currently practiced at the University Teaching Hospital does contribute significantly to cross-infection among burn patients with widely resistant organisms. The main ones are S. aureus and K. pneumoniae. Switching care to a shower mechanism might help eliminate this problem as the study demonstrates that no bacteria were found in the water samples.
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Operation notes are fundamental for clinical, academic and medico-legal purposes. Good Surgical Practice (2014) provides guidelines to assist note completion but the literature suggests poor adherence to these. The aim of this study was to evaluate and improve operation note quality at a UK burns centre through implementation of a burns surgery-specific checklist. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first study in available literature to show that a burns surgery-specific checklist can significantly improve burns operation note quality. This presents a simple and cheap method to improve note quality and may enhance post-operative intra/inter-team communication and patient care. At our unit, we have now developed an electronic checklist format with mandatory field completion to facilitate total compliance.
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The purpose of this study was to establish patterns in types of burns referred to the Outpatient Clinic (OP) at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). ⋯ The results of our study demonstrate gaps in current provincial referral guidelines leading to a significant number of "unnecessary referrals." Further research could correlate the results to current provincial referral guidelines to estimate their current efficacy in practical use.