Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Profound differences exist in the cost of burn care globally, thus we aim to investigate the affected factors and to delineate a strategy to improve the cost-effectiveness of burn management. ⋯ The majority of the cost were associated with the use of antibiotics and burns care. Consequently, it is crucial to prevent nosocomial infection in order to promote healthcare quality and reduce in-hospital costs.
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Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been instrumental in the treatment of traumatic injuries, including burns, particularly in low- and middle-income counties. The purpose of this project was to catalogue burn injury related NGO activities, describe coordinated efforts, and provide insight to burn health care professionals seeking volunteer opportunities. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first effort towards the establishment of a Burn-NGO catalogue. Challenges included: frequent shifts in geographical regions supported, lack of collaboration among organizations, availability of public information, and austere environments. We invite collaborators to assist in the creation of a comprehensive, interactive and complete catalogue.
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Fractional CO2 lasers have been used in clinical settings to improve scarring following burn injury. Though used with increasing frequency, the appropriate laser settings are not well defined and overall efficacy of this therapy has not been definitively established. As it has been proposed that for thick hypertrophic scars proportionally greater fluence and thus deeper ablation into the scar tissue would be most effective, the goal of this study was to examine the role of ablation depth on scar outcomes in a highly-controlled porcine model for burn scars-after grafting. ⋯ The current study demonstrated that the properties of the ablative well (depth and width) are not linearly correlated with laser pulse energy, with only a small increase in well depth at energies between 70 and 150mJ. Overall, the study suggests that there is little difference in outcomes as a function of laser energy. Fractional CO2 laser therapy did not result in any statistically significant benefit to scar properties assessed by quantitative, objective measures, thus highlighting the need for additional clinical investigation of laser therapy efficacy with non-treated controls and objective measures of outcome.