Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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This study assessed whether photographs of burns on patients with dark-skin types could be used for accurate diagnosing and if the accuracy was affected by physicians' clinical background or case characteristics. ⋯ Size and depth of burns on patients with dark-skin types could be assessed at least as well using photographs as at bedside with 67.5% and 66.0% average accuracy rates. Case characteristics significantly affected the accuracy for burn size, but medical specialty and country of practice seldom did in a statistically significant manner.
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Observational Study
The effects of electroacupuncture on analgesia and peripheral sensory thresholds in patients with burn scar pain.
The aim of this study is to observe if the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) on analgesia and peripheral sensory thresholds are transposable from the model of heat pain in volunteers to the clinical setting of burn scar pain. After severe burns, pathological burn scars (PPBS) may occur with excruciating pain that respond poorly to treatment and prevent patients from wearing their pressure garments, thereby leading to unesthetic and function-limiting scars. EA might be of greater benefit in terms of analgesia and functional recovery, should it interrupt this vicious circle by counteracting the peripheral hyperalgesia characterizing PPBS. ⋯ The fact that acupuncture did not correct the pain nor the nociceptive thresholds in this subgroup requires further investigation. We also observed a statistically and clinically relevant reduction in VAS for pruritus for all patients - even those from the subgroup of non-responders to pain - that is worth to be mentioned and requires further studies to be confirmed. This observational study is the first that confirms the effects of acupuncture on analgesia and nociceptive thresholds in the clinical setting of burn pain only for patients presenting with a burn-localized but not a generalized hyperalgesia.
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Reliability and validity of 3D photography (3D LifeViz™ System) compared to digital planimetry (Visitrak™) has been established in a compliant cohort of children with acute burns. Further research is required to investigate these assessment tools in children representative of the general pediatric burns population, specifically children under the age of three years. ⋯ This study has confirmed 3D photography as a reliable alternative to digital planimetry in children of all ages with acute burns ≤10% TBSA. In addition, 3D photography is more suitable for very young children given its non-invasive nature.
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In children under 1 year of age, the proportion of unintentional burns increases with infant age and mobility. Infants are not able to avoid burns and are dependent on parental or adult help. Treatment of burns in young children is expensive in terms of the life-long costs. ⋯ For a subsample of parents who completed the USFA Checklist (n=22), the mean percentage of advocated practices followed was 71±11% (range: 40-89%). Using DVDs was an effective educational modality for increasing HFS knowledge. This addressed an important problem of decreasing burns in infants through increasing parent knowledge and HFS practices using a short, inexpensive DVD.
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The long-term outcome after infant burn was queried 5-9 years after the initial accident. All participants had been treated for burn in Children's Hospital, Helsinki, Finland, before the age of 1 year. We hypothesized that the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young burn survivors may be impaired compared to healthy age matched peers. ⋯ Comparison of the 17D profiles of the patients having been treated as inpatients or outpatients showed that those treated on an outpatient basis had better scores on the dimensions of speech, breathing, and friends (p<0.05). The 17D profiles of patients with scalds or contact burns were similar. The perceived and expressed long-term HRQoL in the burned children was good, and on some dimensions (sleeping, learning, discomfort and symptoms, breathing, depression, and appearance) even better, than that of the control population.