Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Despite progress in medical and surgical treatments of wounds, bioactive compounds still offer an effective and safe approach to accelerate wound healing (WH). In this review, recent results of studies on WH by essential oils (EOs) and their terpenoids are reported. Mechanisms of action of these substances and their possible use in drug delivery systems (DDSs) for WH are discussed. ⋯ There is much evidence that EOs can promote WH. Advancement of nanotechnology in recent years has contributed to improving use of EO with DDSs in WH management. However, some limitations need to be addressed to achieve the translation of this technology into clinical applications for wound treatment.
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Access to healthcare and insurance coverage are associated with quality of life, morbidity, and mortality outcomes. However, most studies have only focused on same-admission and short-term outcomes due to the lack of national longitudinal datalthere are limited data on this topic in the burn literature. Our aim was to determine the effect of insurance status on long-term outcomes in a national sample of burn patients. ⋯ Having Medicaid and Medicare insurance was significantly associated with a lower health-related quality of life at long-term follow up, even after adjusting for demographics and burn injury severity.
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If not accurately diagnosed and treated, postburn pathological scars, such as keloids and hypertrophic scars, can lead to negative clinical outcomes. However, differential diagnosis at the molecular level for postburn pathological scars remains limited. Using single-cell sequencing analysis, we investigated the genetic nuances of pathological scars at the cellular level. This study aimed to identify molecular diagnostic biomarkers to distinguish between postburn keloids and hypertrophic scars. ⋯ Single-cell sequencing analysis unveiled 29 and 30 cell clusters in keloids and hypertrophic scars, respectively, predominantly composed of fibroblasts. Bulk differential gene analysis showed 96 highly expressed genes and 69 lowly expressed genes in keloids compared to hypertrophic scars. By incorporating previous research, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis was conducted to select fibroblasts as the focus of research. According to the single-cell data, 301 genes were stably expressed in fibroblasts from both types of pathological scars. Consistently, Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis revealed that the blue module genes were mostly hub genes associated with fibroblasts. After intersecting fibroblast-related genes in single-cell data, Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis-hub module genes, and bulk differential expression genes, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 and tumour necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 6 were identified as key genes to distinguish keloids from hypertrophic scars, resulting in diagnostic accuracies of 1.0 and 0.75, respectively. Immunohistochemical Staining and Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR revealed that the expression levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha induced protein 6 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6 were significantly lower in postburn keloids than in hypertrophic scars- CONCLUSIONS: Tumour necrosis factor alpha induced protein 6 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 6, exhibiting high diagnostic accuracy, provide valuable guidance for the differential diagnosis and treatment of postburn pathological scars.
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To identify burn patients needing intensive rehabilitation based on discharge symptoms. ⋯ We identify distinct burn patient clusters based on discharge symptoms, with Cluster 3 exhibiting the highest post-discharge healthcare needs. BURN-OP (https://burn-op.streamlit.app/) identifies high-risk patients, offering a tool for prioritizing interventions and designing trials that mitigate risk of Cluster 3 membership.
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Scalds are the leading cause of burns in children younger than 5 years of age with most being related to food preparation and consumption. Hot substances causing scalds have different degrees of viscosity varying from low (liquid substances, such as water), to high (semi-solids or solids, such as oils or grease). It is still underknown whether heat substances with different viscosities are associated with varying risks of developing burn wound infections (BWI). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between heat sources of different viscosities and development of BWI within the first week after injury in children with scalds. ⋯ Our results indicate that the viscosity of the heat source does not affect the risk of wound infection in children with scalds; only the size of the area burned was an independent factor for BWI.