Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Hand burns are unique in their functional, aesthetic and emotional impact on patients. Measuring the progress of a patient's ability to carry out essential and desired tasks, their emotional state, interaction with society as well as scar, pain and itch as their burn heals, has until now relied on the use of a combination of several different tools. We have developed a questionnaire specifically to address the multiple different aspects of the impact of a hand burn on a patient. ⋯ The total BHOT and DASH questionnaires completed at each time point was as follows: 86 before; 52 healed; 29 at 3 months; 31 at 6 months; 28 at 1 year, i.e. 226 DASH and 226 BHOT questionnaires in total. The questionnaire has been shown to have excellent reliability, criterion validity, construct validity, and responsiveness. The result is the Burnt Hand Outcome Tool (BHOT), a patient reported, quick and easy to use yet comprehensive questionnaire specifically for adult patients with burns to the hand.
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Severe burns in children can lead to growth delays, bone loss, and wasting of lean body mass and muscle with subsequent long-term effects such as osteoporosis. The following review examines 11 randomized, placebo-controlled, prospective clinical trials in pediatric burns between 1995 and 2017. These studies included approximately 250 burned children, and they were conducted to evaluate the impact of severe burn on markers of bone formation and bone metabolism. ⋯ The clinical utility of these outlined biomarkers is uncertain with regard to acute burn care, as the current literature remains unclear. This review thus serves to address the impact of severe burn on markers of bone formation and bone metabolism in pediatric patients but will not focus on the clinical utility of the markers. The aim of this review is to summarize the findings of the trials to guide the future care of burned patients to maximize bone recovery.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Photographic evaluation of different adrenaline-containing tumescent solutions on skin graft donor site bleeding: A prospective randomised trial.
Tumescent infiltration is a technique to reduce skin graft donor site bleeding, however there are no studies comparing tumescent solutions with different concentrations of adrenaline on donor site blood loss. We sought to evaluate the effect on skin donor site bleeding of different adrenaline concentrations in adrenaline-containing tumescent solutions in a prospective randomised trial. ⋯ We demonstrate that donor site infiltration with different adrenaline-containing tumescence solutions cause significantly different photographic bleeding scores. Adrenaline 1:250,000 tumescence resulted in significantly lower bleeding scores than lower concentrations of adrenaline without compromising safety or wound healing. These findings suggest that adrenaline tumescence reduces donor site blood loss in a dose-dependent manner.
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The advent of consoles that deliver both interactive games and therapy may augment rehabilitation options in burn patients. The Jintronix software combines therapy-specific software and interactive gaming as a form of coaching and records patient performance on the Kinect® platform. Our objective was to determine the feasibility of a set of Jintronix games and therapy modules in hospitalized adult burn patients. ⋯ A Jintronix-based therapy demonstrated good acceptability and safety in hospitalized burn patients. Feedback from this study led to software modifications implemented by the Jintronix company. This feasibility study has informed the design of a prospective randomized controlled trial to determine whether a virtual-environment home rehabilitation strategy improves functional outcomes after burn injury.
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Observational Study
Tracheostomy and mortality in patients with severe burns: A nationwide observational study.
Tracheostomy is often performed in patients with severe burns who are undergoing prolonged mechanical ventilation. However, the appropriate timing of tracheostomy and its effect on mortality remain unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether tracheostomy can reduce mortality in patients with severe burns. ⋯ There was no significant association between 28-day in-hospital mortality and early tracheostomy in adult patients with severe burns.