Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association
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Survival rates of burn patients have increased greatly over the past several decades. There are, however, still patients with relatively small burns who do not survive their hospitalizations. This work aimed to elucidate factors common to this select subset of patients. ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression of complications in a model for discharge status identified four categories as statistically significant: neurologic, cardiovascular, pulmonary, and renal. In patients with small TBSA burns, the presence of complications significantly increases the odds ratio of death as judged by the NBR data. The complications which appear to be of particular interest are cardiovascular, neurologic, renal, and pulmonary, and those patients who are likely most susceptible to these complications are those with inhalation injury in addition to their cutaneous burns.
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Multicenter Study
Pruritus in pediatric burn survivors: defining the clinical course.
Pruritus is a frequent and severe symptom and a significant cause of distress for adult burn patients. Its effects in children are largely unstudied. The aim of this study is to characterize postburn itch in the pediatric population. ⋯ There was no association between itch intensity and burn etiology, age, gender, or burn size. Pruritus is a frequent complication that lasts for at least 2 years after injury in a majority of pediatric burn survivors. This information will enable better tracking of outcomes and will serve as a baseline for assessing interventions.
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Comparative Study
Peripherally inserted central venous catheter safety in burn care: a single-center retrospective cohort review.
The use of peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line for central venous access in thermally injured patients has increased in recent years despite a lack of evidence regarding safety in this patient population. A recent survey of invasive catheter practices among 44 burn centers in the United States found that 37% of burn units use PICC lines as part of their treatment protocol. The goal of this study was to compare PICC-associated complication rates with the existing literature in both the critical care and burn settings. ⋯ We suggest that PICC line-associated complication rates are similar to those published in the critical care literature. Though these rates are higher than those published in the burn literature, they are similar to central venous catheter-associated complication rates. While PICC lines can be a useful resource in the treatment of the thermally injured patient, they are associated with significant and potentially fatal risks.
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The treatment of burn injuries requires high-cost services for healthcare and society. Automatic fire sprinklers are a preventive measure that can decrease fire injuries, deaths, property damage, and environmental toxins. This study's aim was to conduct a cost analysis of patients with burn or inhalation injuries caused by residential fires and to compare this with the cost of implementing residential automatic fire sprinklers. ⋯ At our burn center, the average cost was CAN$84,678 per patient with a total cost of CAN$96,448,194. All resources totaled CAN$3,605,775,200. This study shows the considerable healthcare costs of burn patients from homes without fire sprinklers.
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The fluid resuscitation needs of children with small area burns are difficult to predict. The authors hypothesized that a novel computational algorithm called the compensatory reserve index (CRI), calculated from the photoplethysmogram waveform, would correlate with percent total body surface area (%TBSA) and fluid administration in children presenting with ≤20% TBSA burns. The authors recorded photoplethysmogram waveforms from burn-injured children that were later processed by the CRI algorithm. ⋯ CRI correlated with the amount of fluid resuscitation given at the time of CRI measurement (P = .02) and was inversely related to total fluids given per 24 hours for children with adequate urine output (>0.5 ml/kg/hr) (P < .001). The CRI is decreased in children with small to moderate size burns, and correlates with %TBSA and fluid administration. This suggests that the CRI may be useful for fluid resuscitation guidance, warranting further study.