Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association
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Advanced Burn Life Support emphasizes endotracheal intubation for patients with facial burns before transfer to a burn center to prevent airway obstruction. Many patients are intubated before transport and are often extubated shortly after burn center arrival. We hypothesize that many intubations performed before burn center transport are unnecessary. ⋯ As a burn community, we have emphasized early intubation before transfer for those who have sustained significant burns, inhalational injury, or facial burns. Unfortunately, this has led to many potentially unnecessary intubations that expose patients to unnecessary complications. Although early intubation is a lifesaving intervention for many burn patients, criteria should be developed to determine when intubation is not needed.
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Comparative Study
Comparative Analysis of Early Excision and Grafting vs Delayed Grafting in Burn Patients in a Developing Country.
The present study attempts to compare how the patients who undergo early excision and grafting behave as compared with patients who are treated along usual conservative lines of management in centers where the resources are less than optimal. The data of 20 female patients were analyzed. Age of the patients ranged between 20 and 30 years, percentage area burn ranged between 20 and 40%, and percentage area resurfaced by skin grafting 5 to 10%. ⋯ The mean hospital stay in the patients who underwent early excision and grafting was 15.1 ± 4.1 days, whereas that in the patients who underwent delayed grafting was 36.2 ± 6.3 days (P = .001). Early excision and grafting decreases the hospital stay of burn patients. The present study suggests that it has a definite applicability even in places where the resources might be less than optimal.
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We conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify evidence to support the use of measures of depression for adults with burn injuries. Our goal was to be able to identify the most reliable, valid, and efficient means of identifying adults with symptoms of depression including major depressive disorder. We modified established guidelines for conducting systematic reviews by excluding measures that focused on distress or anxiety or only used depression as a predictor of interest. ⋯ Greater understanding of depression after burn injury can be gained by evaluating the existing general measures of depression and how they are used in the field of burn injury rehabilitation. The ultimate goal is to develop a set of recommendations for the standardization of how depressive symptomatology is assessed in this population. In this review, we highlight the deficiencies of validated measures of depression in the field of burn recovery and provide specific recommendations for both clinicians and researchers to advance our knowledge of depression following a burn injury, which will allow us to advance treatment.
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Pediatric burns are a considerable source of injury in the United States. Socioeconomic status has been demonstrated to influence other disease outcomes. The goal of this study was to analyze national pediatric burn outcomes based on payer type. ⋯ Medicaid patients had longer LOS and more complications. Regression analysis revealed that payer type was a factor in LOS and overall complication rate. Identifying dissimilar outcomes based on patient and injury characteristics is critical in providing information on how to improve those outcomes.
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Frostbite injury in children can lead to abnormal growth and premature fusion of the epiphyseal cartilage with long-term sequela including, but not limited to, arthroses, deformity, and amputation of the phalanges. This was a retrospective chart review of pediatric frostbite identified in an in-house burn center registry from March 1999 to March 2014. Therapeutic management included negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). ⋯ They presented within 24 hours after injury, underwent 5-6 days of NPWT after excision of blisters, and did not lose the distal portion of their digits, or require amputations. On follow-up, all hands were healed well with only minimal or no effect on the growth plate of these pediatric patients. In the early period after frostbite, NPWT may be beneficial in preserving the epiphyseal cartilage in children and preventing long-term complications.