Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association
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Cutaneous functional units (CFUs) are fields of skin that functionally contribute to range of motion (ROM) at an associated joint. When replaced with scar tissue, the skin is less extensible and may result in loss of movement at the joint. Consideration of the amount of CFU affected by burn injury is increasingly being used to predict the development of burn scar contracture (BSC) in burn survivors. ⋯ That is, the amount of a given CFU scarred was predictive of less ROM achieved in the associated area. Percentage of CFU involved did not significantly correlate with baseline shoulder ROM, suggesting that other factors may be associated with initial limitations in ROM. Evaluation of the percentage of CFU scarred is useful for predicting shoulder ROM recovery with rehabilitation and may be used to help guide clinical decision making and allocation of time and resource for therapy services.
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Comparative Study
Risk Factors for Ocular Burn Injuries Requiring Surgery.
The surgical management of severe ocular burns is challenging and often associated with variable long-term outcome. The aims of this study were to analyze the clinical course of these injuries and determine the factors associated with the need for surgery. A retrospective medical records review was conducted for patients admitted to the Victorian Adult Burns Services, with ocular burns, from January 2000 to January 2010. ⋯ Patients undergoing surgery had a longer length of hospital stay (median [interquartile range] 40 [12-90] vs 12 [4-29.5] days; P = .004) and larger TBSA burned (median [interquartile range] 20 [10-60] vs 8 [4-20]; P = .011). Factors associated with the need for surgery included flame burns, periorbital edema, visual loss on presentation, increasing severity of eyelid and facial burns, severe corneal injury, as well as lagophthalmos, ectropion, and microbial keratitis (P < .05). Although only a minority required surgery, these patients often require multiple procedures and develop long-term ocular morbidity.
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The objective of this study is to investigate the factors associated with serum phosphate concentrations in severely burned children and whether hypophosphatemia is associated with outcome. Seventy-eight children with a total body surface area of 24% (6.0-68.5) were retrospectively analyzed for serum phosphate concentrations during the first 10 days of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). The method of generalized estimating equations was used to evaluate the effect of the exposure variables for serum phosphate concentrations during the study period. ⋯ Hypophosphatemia was independently associated with a 68% decrease in the probability of ICU discharge at 30 days (subhazard ratio: -0.32; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.53; P = .001) and an increase of 2.9 days in mechanical ventilation (coefficient: 2.91; 95% CI: 1.16, 4.66; P = .001). Serum phosphate concentrations in pediatric burn patients are associated with the magnitude of inflammatory response. Hypophosphatemia is associated with decreased probability of ICU discharge and increased time on mechanical ventilation.