Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Internet-based information and support program for parents of children with burns: A randomized controlled trial.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and effects of an internet-based information and self-help program with therapist contact for parents of children and adolescents with burns. The program aimed to reduce parents' symptoms of general and posttraumatic stress. ⋯ The program has the potential to support parents of children with burns. The intervention is easily accessible, cost-effective and could be implemented in burn care rehabilitation.
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Comparative Study
A prospective intra-individual evaluation of silk combared to Biobrane for the treatment of superficial burns of the hand and face.
An ever-increasing number of commercially available dressings have been applied to treat superficial burns with the aim to reduce pain and inflammation and lead to a fast wound healing and scar reduction. Nevertheless the search for cheap and effective wound dressing proceeds. Dressilk(®) consisting of silkworm silk showed good results for wound healing in regards to scarring, biocompatibility and reduction of inflammation and pain. Therefore it seemed to be an interesting product for the treatment of superficial burns. ⋯ The "ideal" wound dressing maximizes patients' comfort while reducing pain and promoting wound healing. Dressilk(®) and Biobrane(®) both provided an effective and safe healing environment, showing low overall complication rates with respect to infection and exudation on superficial burns of the hand and face. Therefore Dressilk(®), being clearly superior to Biobrane(®) in cost efficiency is an interesting alternative especially for the treatment of superficial burns of faces.
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While the most obvious impact of burn is on the skin, systemic responses also occur after burn, including intestinal inflammation. The objective of this study was to assess if burns are associated with increased long-term admissions for gastrointestinal diseases. ⋯ Findings of increased hospital admission rates and prolonged length of hospital stay for gastrointestinal diseases in the burn cohort provide evidence to support that burns have effects that persist long after the initial injury.
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The introduction of ablative fractional CO2lasers (CO2-AFL) for burn scar management shows promising results. Whilst recent studies have focused on objective scar outcomes following CO2-AFL treatment, to date no data on patient subjective factors such as quality of life are available. ⋯ Our preliminary results confirm significant improvement in thickness, texture, colour, and symptoms following treatment with CO2-AFL. Foremost, quality of life of patients with both immature and mature scars (up to 23 years after injury) improved significantly after just one treatment session. To our knowledge, this is the first study to document such holistic treatment effects in burn patients treated by CO2-AFL.
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Three factors that effect burn mortality are age, total body surface of burn (TBSA), and inhalation injury. Of the three, inhalation injury is the strongest predictor of mortality thus its inclusion in the revised Baux score (age+TBSA+17* (inhalation injury, 1=yes, 0=no)). However, the weighted contribution of specific comorbidities such as smoker status on mortality has traditionally not been accounted for nor studied in this subset of burn patients. We therefore sought to examine the impact of current tobacco and/or marijuana smoking in patients with inhalation injury. ⋯ In the sub group of burn patients with inhalation injury, the odds of mortality significantly decreased in pre-existing smokers after adjusting for significant covariates. We postulate that an immune tolerance mechanism that modulates and diminishes the pro-inflammatory response confers a survival advantage in smokers after exposure to acute smoke inhalation injury. Future prospective studies in human and/or animal models are needed to confirm these findings.