Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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The occurrence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) significantly increases the mortality and morbidity of major burns; there are few laboratory markers that predict the development of ARDS in severe burns. This study was to investigate the relationship between complete blood count (CBC) parameters and the incidence of ARDS in severe burn patients. ⋯ The findings of this study suggest that an elevated RDW is associated with an increased risk of ARDS and RDW is an independent risk factor in the prediction of ARDS after severe burns.
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To describe the demographics, circumstances, burn wound characteristics and current tertiary centre management of interpersonal violence (IPV) burn victims in the Northern Territory Top End. It is anticipated that such knowledge gained will be of benefit to key stakeholders across the spectrum of injury prevention and management in this region. ⋯ Female and Indigenous persons are at increased risk of IPV burn. The challenges of providing care to the IPV burn population extend beyond burn wound closure.
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Elderly burn patients vary in physiologic age and frailty. While previous evidence suggests that frailty on admission is associated with poor outcomes, changes in frailty during hospitalization for a burn injury have not been reported. ⋯ In our study population, patients with low admission frailty scores are at greatest risk for worsened frailty at discharge and should be targeted for the development of future frailty prevention programs.
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The study aimed to investigate short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) in burns survivors and non-injured controls, and establish whether paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a sensitive tool to investigate SICI after burn-injury. ⋯ These results show that paired-pulse TMS is a useful method for investigating cortical inhibition following burn injury, and that SICI circuits in the primary motor cortex are not affected by minor burn injury. This study presents details for definitive future studies of primary motor cortex function after minor burn injury.
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Burns cause acute damage to the peripheral nervous system with published reports identifying that neurological changes after injury remain for a prolonged period. To shed some light on potential mechanisms, we assessed injury etiology and patterns of nervous system morbidity after injury by comparing long-term hospital admissions data of burns patients and other non-burn trauma patients with uninjured people. ⋯ Results suggest that injury patients are at increased risk of peripheral nervous system morbidity after discharge for a prolonged period of time. The time patterns associated with incident nervous system conditions suggest possible differences in underlying pathology and long-term patient care needs. Further research is needed to elucidate the underlying neuropathology.