Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
-
Review
A review of treatment strategies for hydrofluoric acid burns: Current status and future prospects.
Hydrofluoric acid (HF), a dangerous inorganic acid, can cause severe corrosive effects and systemic toxicity. HF enters the human body via where it contacts, such as skin and mucosa, alimentary and respiratory tracts, and ocular surfaces. In the recent years, the incidence of HF burn has tended to increase over time. ⋯ Whereas, management of patients with HF burns remains a great challenge in some situations. To date, there has been no widely accepted protocol for the rescue of HF burns, partly due to the diversity of HF burns. This paper overviews the current status and problems of treatment strategies for HF burns, for the purpose of promoting the future researches and improvement.
-
This study sought to determine the awareness and attitude of doctors and nurses in a teaching hospital to skin donation and banking, and to identify needs for personnel educational programmes. ⋯ Knowledge transfer during health professional training on the usefulness of banked skin in patients with major burns may lead to improved attitude of health professionals and acceptance of this modality of burn management.
-
Diabetes mellitus affects 25.8 million Americans and is predicted to almost double by 2050. The presence of diabetes complicates hospital courses because of the microvascular complications associated with disease progression. Patients with diabetes represent 18.3% of annual burn admissions to our unit and 27% have burns to the feet. The purpose of this project was to develop an evidence-based guideline for care of the patient with diabetes and foot burns ⋯ Best outcomes for this high risk population will be attainable with an evidence based guideline.
-
Comparative Study
Comparing mortality outcomes of major burns and toxic epidermal necrolysis in a tertiary burns centre.
Our aim was to provide descriptive information to burn clinicians, who have extensive experience treating major burns and determining prognosis, as to whether significant differences in mortality exist between major burns injuries and the comparatively less common toxic epidermal necrolysis for a given age and total body surface area percentage. ⋯ Palliative care approaches are more frequently administered at the time of presentation for major burns patients in comparison to toxic epidermal necrolysis patients. This may be due to a perception that if toxic epidermal necrolysis patients can survive their initial systemic injury, they are likely to survive, as opposed to major burns patients who often undergo extensive surgery and for whom other factors should be taken into account in the context of end-of-life decision making.
-
Medical support of military operations involves treatment of massive soft tissue wounds, thermal burns, open fractures, blast injuries and traumatic amputations under conditions that are often austere and far from supply lines. Military hospitals, as recently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, are designed and equipped for stabilization and rapid transfer of injured patients back to their home nation. These austere facilities are often tasked with the emergency or long-term treatment of local populations when injured or burned, further stressing the medical resupply system. ⋯ Compared to conventional burn dressings, they are easier to transport and store, easier to use, and do not need to be changed as frequently, allowing for conservation of nursing resources. In this literature review, the recent military uses of silver-nylon dressings are examined. The stockpiling and use of silver-nylon as a universal military burn and wound dressing is advocated.