Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Of 5934 patients admitted to our Burns' Unit at the Soroka University Hospital, Beer-Sheva, Israel between the years 1965 and 1986, 22 had attempted suicide by fire (0.37 per cent). Seventeen of them (77 per cent) died from their burns. The use of flammable liquids was the most common method of immolation. Fifty per cent of the victims were known to have previous mental disorders.
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Out of 338 domestic burn injuries 134 affected children below 16 years of age. The investigation was prospective over a 1-year period. ⋯ The most vulnerable areas were the hands, head and fingers. Activities related to cooking and in the kitchen caused most of the burns.
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A limited in vivo study using 12 rats with full-thickness skin burns injuries was carried out. The animals were treated 24 h postburn with two newly discovered enzyme fractions derived from the stem of the pineapple (Ananas comosus). The results indicated that even debridement of the injury could be effected rapidly (within 4 h). Although the details of enzyme formulation and clinical application have yet to be established, these findings clearly suggest that two enzyme fractions from pineapple stem have potential as non-surgical debriding agents.
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This study demonstrates that readily available socioeconomic data routinely collected by the US Census can be used to estimate the incidence of burn injuries within the 66 counties of the populous six-state New England region of the USA. The burn data were collected during the National Burn Demonstration Project and included New England residents admitted for hospital care of burns sustained between 1 July 1978 and 30 June 1979. ⋯ Associations with five such variables are described, including per capita income, percentage of persons below poverty level, percentage of residences built prior to 1940, percentage of adults with 16 years or more of education, and percentage of persons moving since 1975 with previous residence in the same county. Estimates of burn incidence for counties, together with a previously reported study at the level of census tracts for a major Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, can be used to reduce the time and cost of burn injury case reporting by health care providers or case-finding efforts for large population groups, and can be used to predict the effectiveness of social and economic programmes and policies that improve the overall well-being of county populations.
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Expanding oral angle plasty using a subcutaneous pedicle flap to correct severe microstomia due to extensive facial scar contractures is described. This technique is especially suited for the elderly, who are unable to tolerate large skin grafting of the face, and for patients with insufficient normal donor skin to undertake extensive correction of scar contractures.