Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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With the aim of identifying patterns of burn injury, remediable risk factors, and policies in the overall surgical and medical management a retrospective review of 111 octogenarian burn victims admitted between 1983 and 1993 is presented. The mean age was 84 years, with the mean percentage body surface area burned (%BSAB) being 9.6 per cent (range 0.5-65 per cent). Contrary to expectations, the annual incidence appears to be declining, the possible reasons for which are discussed. ⋯ When compared to the more traditional delayed surgical approach, early surgery conveyed no benefits in either mortality (early group, 18 per cent; delayed group, 13 per cent) or length of hospital stay (early group survivors, 38 days; delayed group survivors, 42 days). Medical and social problems were very common and led to an often difficult and frequently prolonged rehabilitation, with the mean length of hospital stay for all patients being 29 days. The mortality of the whole group was 26 per cent, the patients on average faring better than their predicted mortalities as derived using either the Baux index, the Bull table or the Abbreviated Burn Severity Score.
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Two studies are described in this paper. In the first study 225 acutely, severely burned patients were retrospectively investigated as to admission blood alcohol level and history of chronic alcohol abuse. The influence of further risk factors, circumstances and therapeutic data was studied, in particular the influence of gender, full-thickness burns, smoke inhalation injury, smoking, length of total and ICU stay, and suicide attempt. ⋯ Five patients had positive drug levels and five had positive alcohol levels. Five patients had a history of chronic drug and/or alcohol abuse. This incidence of alcohol and drug abuse supports the findings of our retrospective study.