Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Social workers on interprofessional teams contribute to treating the psychosocial sequelae of burn trauma patients in cooperation with many other burn-treatment team members. However, the roles and skills exercised by social workers can vary between burn units as well as the skills social work students are taught in their academic programs. ⋯ By expanding the body of knowledge about factors that impact social work care for burn patients, Social work academic programs may better understand how to prepare medical social work students for best practices in the care of burn-injured patients, survivors, and families at inpatient and community levels.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Optimization of pulmonary function, functional capacity, and quality of life in adolescents with thoracic burns after a 2-month arm cycling exercise programme: A randomized controlled study.
Burns to the thorax are at high risk for long-term pulmonary complications due to chest muscle contractures and chronic inflammation in both adolescents and young adults. Few studies have investigated the effects of arm cycling exercise in those individuals. For that reason, this study examined pulmonary function, functional capacity, and quality of life (QOL) in adolescents with thoracic burns subsequent to 2-month arm cycling exercise programme. ⋯ This prospective study clearly demonstrated positive and beneficial influences of two-month arm cycling exercise in the optimization of pulmonary functions, functional performance, and QOL in adolescents suffering from chest burns and thereby eliminating post-burn complications.
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A >25% increase in daily insulin dosing is suggestive of possible sepsis in burn patients, however, no conclusive evidence is available regarding the time point at which insulin dosing begins to increase. The purpose of this study is to determine the exact time point at which the insulin requirement increases among non-diabetic burn patients with sepsis. ⋯ Daily insulin dosing increases 48 h prior to development of other clinical signs of sepsis and can be used as a sensitive early marker.
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Systematic reviews (SR) of high-quality randomised controlled trials can identify effective treatments for burn wound infections (BWIs). Clinical heterogeneity in outcome definitions can prevent valid evidence synthesis, which may limit the reliability of the findings of SRs affected by this heterogeneity. This SR aimed to investigate whether there is variation BWI definitions across studies in SRs of burn care interventions and its impact on identification of effective treatments for patients with burn injuries. ⋯ There is variation in BWI definition across SRs and within the studies included in SRs of interventions assessing BWI outcomes. This heterogeneity has prevented conclusions about intervention effects being drawn, and only half of the SR authors have accounted for it in their findings. Reviews that have collated this data without reference to the heterogeneity should be viewed with caution, since it may limit the validity of evidence for the identification of effective treatments for BWI. The use of a newly developed core indicator set to support consistent reporting of indicators and standardisation of BWI outcome reporting will enable effective evidence synthesis.
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A burn is a trauma that breaks the skin barrier, causing local and systemic responses. Treatment is complex, multiprofessional and expensive. In addition to surgical treatment, topical dressings can be used to keep the wound moist, reduce the risk of infection and stimulate healing. Clinical studies show that topical use of fibroblast growth factors may accelerate healing. An assessment of the quality of the available evidence and its strength of recommendation is necessary. ⋯ This review gathered available evidence, between low and moderate recommendation strength for the use of FGF as a topical dressing. Further rigorous trials are needed to improve the strength of recommendation for topical use of FGF for burns.