Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Burns to the cephalic extremities are particularly implicated in problems of self-image and alterations to personal social relations. The aim of this study was to objectively assess the quality-of-life (QoL) of patients suffering from face-and-neck burns through our newly created scale: The Burn-Specific Health Scale for Face and Neck (BSHS-FN). ⋯ QoL evaluated using the SF-36 had a higher average total score in GB patients compared to FN patients, but there were no significant difference between the two groups (54.3±18.5 vs. 47.0±17.3, respectively, p=0.11). In contrast, in BSHS-B the total score was significantly different between the two groups with a higher score recorded for the GB group (71.9±13.4 [median: 72.8] in the GB group vs. 62.2±14.4 [median: 64.4] in the FN group). In percentage terms, total score of BSHS-FN for GB group was 79.1±10.1, while total score for FN group was 53.6±13.1 (p<0.001), with the highest score for the Face and Neck domain in GB group (99.7±1.1, p<0.001) CONCLUSION: The BSHS-FN seemed to be more appropriate to assess QoL for FN burn patients. This study supports its application in routine clinical practice and in international studies.
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This paper is focused to reflect the changes in burn mortality and events leading to fatal burn injuries. ⋯ Burn death is an emerging cause of injury deaths in Bangladesh. Further researches are required to explore the epidemiology of electrocution deaths in Bangladesh and design effective interventions.
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The technique of meshed skin grafting is known since 1960s. It was shown that there is a difference between the declared and real expansion ratio of the skin meshed graft. We hypothesize that the orientation of the Langer's lines in a split thickness skin graft is a key parameter in the resulting expansion ratio. ⋯ With regard to literature dealing with expansion of skin grafts by meshing, a high scatter amongst data results is observed. This finding was also explained by our research, demonstrating the significance of Langer's lines and their relative orientation to the direction of meshing.
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A number of studies have reported that application of autologous adipose-derived cell populations leads to improved outcome in different preclinical models of thermal burn injury. However, these studies were limited to assessment of relatively small injuries amounting to only ∼2% of total body surface area (TBSA) in which the complications associated with large burns (e.g.: systemic inflammation and the need for fluid resuscitation) are absent. In anticipation of translating this approach to a clinical trial in which these complications would be present we applied a preclinical model that more closely resembles a patient with large thermal burn injury requiring skin grafting. Thus, the present study used a porcine model to investigate safety and efficacy of intravenous delivery of ADRCs in the treatment of a complex burn injury comprising ∼20% TBSA and including both moderately deep (44%) partial and full thickness burns, and the injury associated with skin graft harvest. ⋯ This study demonstrated that intravenous delivery of autologous ADRCs appears to be a safe and feasible approach to the treatment of large burns and supports the use of ADRCs as an adjunct therapy to skin grafting in patients with severe burns.
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Although burn injury to the skin and subcutaneous tissues is common in both civilian and military scenarios, a significant knowledge gap exists in quantifying changes in tissue properties as a result of burns. In this study, we present a noninvasive technique based on ultrasound elastography which can reliably assess altered nonlinear mechanical properties of a burned tissue. In particular, ex vivo porcine skin tissues have been exposed to four different burn conditions: (i) 200°F for 10s, (ii) 200°F for 30s, (iii) 450°F for 10s, and (iv) 450°F for 30s. ⋯ The results indicate that while the linear model parameter (C10) does not show a statistically significant difference between the test conditions, the nonlinear model parameter (C20) reliably identifies three (ii-iv) of the four cases (p<0.05) when comparing burned with unburned tissues with a classification accuracy of 60-87%. Additionally, softening of the tissue is observed because of the change in structure of the collagen fibers. The ultrasound elastography-based technique has potential for application under in vivo conditions, which is left for future work.