Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Acute respiratory distress syndrome management is currently based on lung protective ventilation. Such strategy may lead to hypercapnic acidosis. ⋯ We integrated a pediatric oxygenator in a continuous veno-venous hemofiltration circuit. This technique, used during at least 96h, was feasible, sure and efficient with carbon dioxide removal rate up to 32%.
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Quality of life (QOL) is one of the leading outcomes in burn care research. This study classifies subscales of common QOL measures within the International Classification of Functioning disability and health (ICF) framework to determine to which extent the measures are complementary or overlapping and to investigate whether the instruments are able to describe the full spectrum of patients' functioning. ⋯ To capture the full spectrum of dysfunctioning a combination of the BSHS-B with a generic questionnaire seems obligatory. However still some domains of functioning remain uncovered.
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The prevalence of acute cold injury has increased recently. Despite new research findings, these injuries and their resulting tissue damage are still not entirely understood. Especially, little is known about alteration of skin biomechanical properties. ⋯ Alteration of biomechanical properties of skin is a function of damaged tissue structures. The presented results demonstrate a decrease of main elastic parameters with increasing depth of injury and indicate progressive tissue damage over time. Skin elasticity measurements are a valuable tool in acute cold contact injury depth assessment and may act as an influencing factor in management decisions.
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Standardized courses for the care of the burn patient have historically been developed in High Income Countries (HIC). These courses do not necessarily reflect the challenges and needs of Low Income Countries (LIC) and some components may not be relevant there (i.e. use of ventilators in a country that has no or very limited number of ventilators). We are developing a Burn Management Course for East Africa. This course was created and trialed in a LIC and subsequently a formal manual and course curriculum created. Recently the first iteration of the course was undertaken in a major regional burn centre in East Africa. We present participant feedback on the course content, and potential future directions for course development. ⋯ It is possible to create a course that translates knowledge from a HIC setting to meet the needs of the end-user in a LIC setting.
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Mortality among patients treated in hospital for burn is routinely examined, but none of the many models in use in the UK was developed using nationwide data. The aim of this research was to develop a prediction model using national data, representative of the British population. ⋯ We have reported a strongly predictive and theoretically well-founded model of in-patient mortality using nine years of data from all burn care services in England and Wales. We recommend this model for British burn service development and for international consideration of the variables to use in developing similar models with other data sources.