The Journal of burn care & rehabilitation
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Jul 2005
Comparative StudyComparison of battlefield-expedient topical antimicrobial agents for the prevention of burn wound sepsis in a rat model.
Topical antimicrobial therapy has the potential to limit the mortality and morbidity of contaminated battlefield injuries. Many agents available are ill-suited for use on the battlefield; however, mafenide acetate solution (MAS) has known efficacy as a burn dressing adjunct, and previous work with mafenide as a direct chemotherapeutic has shown promise. A total of 71 male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent a 20% TBSA full-thickness scald. ⋯ We did not demonstrate significant prevention of wound sepsis with these agents as we used them. These techniques should not be substituted for established burn care. Aqueous direct topical antimicrobial agents have logistical advantages over creams and dressing soaks for field use, and the search for a battlefield-expedient agent for use at or near the point of wounding should continue.
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In a car battery accident, a 21-year old man sustained a band of deep burn involving the dorsoradial aspect of the wrist. He was treated by excision and grafting on the third day after injury. ⋯ Although the underlying etiology that triggered the events leading to thermal injury was an electrical accident, the current did not pass through any part of the patient's body, as what happens in an electrical injury. In our current understanding, the pathophysiology of electrical injury dictates the transmission of current through living tissues, leading to a specific type of tissue damage that should be distinguishable from the type that results from a usual thermal injury, as it happened in our case.