Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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The objective of this review was to systematically examine whether there is clinical evidence to support recommendations for positioning patients with acute burn. Review of the literature revealed minimal evidence-based practice regarding the positioning of burn patients in the acute and intermediate phases of recovery. This manuscript describes recommendations based on the limited evidence found in the literature as well as the expert opinion of burn rehabilitation specialists. These positioning recommendations are designed to guide those rehabilitation professionals who treat burn survivors during their acute hospitalization and are intended to assist in the understanding and development of effective positioning regimens.
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Review Case Reports
Facial burns from exploding microwaved foods: Case series and review.
Microwave ovens allow for quick and simple cooking. However, the importance of adequate food preparation, prior to microwave cooking, and the consequences of inadequate preparation are not well-known. ⋯ Microwave ovens have become ubiquitous. The authors recognise the need for improved public awareness of safe microwave cooking. Burns resulting from microwave-cooked foods may have life-changing consequences.
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To develop a mathematical model of predicting mortality based on the admission characteristics of 6220 burn cases. ⋯ A mathematical model based on logistic regression and SVM could be used to predict the survival prognosis according to the admission characteristics.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A prospective clinical trial comparing Biobrane(®) Dressilk(®) and PolyMem(®) dressings on partial-thickness skin graft donor sites.
In a single-center, prospective, randomized clinical trial three different configured wound dressings Biobrane(®), Dressilk(®) and PolyMem(®) were compared with each other regarding objective and subjective healing parameters and cost efficiency. ⋯ The "ideal" wound dressing maximizes patients' comfort while reducing pain and the risk of pulling off migrating epidermal cells from the wound surface. In addition reliable wound status evaluation (minimizing complications), an increase of treatment cost value efficacy, and reduced hospitalization rates should be provided. Dressilk(®) and Biobrane(®) were favored by patients and surgeons for providing an effective and safe healing environment, with overall low complication rates with respect to infection and exudation. Regarding cost-effectiveness PolyMem(®) and Dressilk(®) presented superior to Biobrane(®).
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Elderly burn care represents a vast challenge. The elderly are one of the most susceptible populations to burn injuries, but also one of the fastest growing demographics, indicating a substantial increase in patient numbers in the near future. Despite the need and importance of elderly burn care, survival of elderly burn patients is poor. ⋯ Risk of death increased linearly with increasing age. Additionally, we found that the LD50 decreases from 45% total body surface area (TBSA) to 25% TBSA from the age of 55 years to the age of 70 years, indicating that even small burns lead to poor outcome in the elderly. We therefore concluded that age is not an ideal to predictor of burn outcome, but we strongly suggest that burn care providers be aware that if an elderly patient sustains even a 25% TBSA burn, the risk of mortality is 50% despite the implementation of modern protocolized burn care.