Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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This survey analyses data from 17 French burn units with respect to age, severity of injury and survival of patients admitted to hospital during 1985. Of the 2398 patients treated, more than half were between 15 and 50 years old. About 90 per cent of the patients had burns covering less than 50 per cent of the body surface area. ⋯ The LD50 for the 2398 patients was a burned surface area of approximately 60 per cent of the total body surface area. The LD50 for patients less than 30 years old was a burn covering just over 80 per cent of the total body surface. The survival rate as a function of the Baux index was also analysed.
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Seventy-two cases of car radiator burns (CRB) were treated in the Burns Unit, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar, over a 6-year period (1982-87). All the patients were males and most were between 20 and 40 years old. ⋯ The scenario of the accidents as well as the topography of the burned areas were characteristic to this particular type of injury. The exceptionally high temperatures in the summer months were significantly related to the incidence of this type of burn.
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The blanket factory building at Kibbutz Urim in Israel was completely destroyed by a devastating fire. Forty-five of the 62 workers were injured, most of them very mildly, by inhalation of smoke. No skin burns were recorded. The preplanned fire evacuation programme that was routinely rehearsed and precisely carried out during the event prevented the grave results that could have followed such a disaster.
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A comparative study of patients receiving or not receiving topical applications of 1 per cent silver sulphadiazine cream as treatment for burn wounds has shown that the drug is still effective in significantly reducing the amount of bacterial contamination of burn wounds, even after 15 years of use in our Burn Unit. Consequently the overall mortality due to burn wound sepsis has been decreased in this Burn Unit.
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The pattern of burn injuries in Port Harcourt, Nigeria is presented for the first time. Ninety-two patients were studied and 43 (46.74 per cent) of them were children in the 0-5 years age range. ⋯ The overall mortality was 26.09 per cent and the majority of deaths occurred in burns covering over 50 per cent of the total body surface area. Improved parental supervision of children, in particular toddlers, a more reliable public power supply system, a ban on carrying petrol in open containers in the streets and public enlightenment campaigns are advocated by the authors as preventive measures.