Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Management of pediatric thermal injuries involves a high standard of care in a multidisciplinary setting. To avoid physical and psychological sequelae, wound dressings should minimize hospitalization time and anesthesia while maximizing patient comfort. ⋯ Bacterial nanocellulose is superior to polyurethane foam regarding length of hospitalization and number of interventions under anesthesia. It offers a safe, cost-effective treatment option and provides excellent comfort in pediatric patients.
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Hospital volume has been identified as an independent outcome parameter for a number of medical fields and surgical procedures, and there is a tendency to increase required patient numbers for center verification. However, the existing literature does not support a clear correlation between patient load and clinical outcome in adult burn care and recent data from Germany does not exist. We therefore evaluated the effect of patient volume in German burn centers on clinical outcome. ⋯ Interestingly a division into three groups showed significant differences with the best outcome for patients in medium-volume centers. Nevertheless, mortality did not differ significantly. Therefore, our data demonstrates that in contrast to many other medical fields, outcome and mortality are not automatically improved in burn care by simply increasing the patient load, at least in centers treating 20-100 BICU patients/year.
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Many studies show a "obesity paradox", which seems to protect against death. Whether an obesity paradox space is present in severe burn patients remains a matter of great debate. Most research on the obesity paradox of burn injuries is classified by body mass index (BMI) rather than by age. ⋯ In this study of patients with severe burns, overweight and obesity had protective effect on burn injury in the younger group (18 ≤ age<65 years), but not in the older group (age ≥ 65 years). Investigating the obesity paradox in burn patients needs to consider age differences. However, multicentre clinical trials are needed to verify the results.
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Observational Study
Relieving pain and distress symptoms in the outpatient burn clinic: The contribution of a medical clown.
High levels of pain and emotional distress characterize the experience of patients, at burn outpatient clinic and reflect on their accompanying persons and the medical personal. ⋯ Presence of a medical clown induced a positive atmosphere in the clinic. It is possible that the effect of humor through stress reduction mechanism lessened agony. Furthermore, the distraction the clown evoked played a role in the decrease of pain and emotional distress. We recommend implementing psychosocial oriented interventions such as those performed by a medical clown to improve the emotional atmosphere in the ambulatory clinic of patients, accompanying persons and healthcare personnel.
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To describe incidence and characteristics of hospital presentations and deaths due to burn injury in the Australian state of Victoria from 2008 to 2017 and identify trends in incidence and patterns. ⋯ The risk of sustaining burn injury, the types of burn and outcomes, varied by age and gender. We found evidence of a limited decrease in burn injury rates in some sub-groups: appropriate and effective targeted prevention strategies for burns are needed to avoid the significant short and long-term suffering experienced.