Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Nearly 500 people were injured in the dust explosion at the Formosa Fun Coast water park in 2015, making it the accident with the largest number of burn victims in Taiwan. Severe burn injuries are often accompanied by long-term impacts on physical, psychological, social, occupational, and aesthetic wellness. Survivors usually require several years or even decades of medical rehabilitation and psychological counseling, which inevitably affect their quality of life (QoL). ⋯ Survivors with more severe symptoms had worse QoL and a higher risk of PTSD. The burn accident affected not only the injured individuals but also their entire families. In order to help injured individuals reintegrate into society and maintain better overall health, our study suggested providing family-based healthcare plans and necessary follow-up visits in a timely manner.
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The prevalence of obese adults is rising across the world with a tripling of rates since 1975. The resuscitation of large burns in obese patients brings unique challenges leading some to advocate the use of a bariatric specific burn chart. ⋯ Bariatric specific charts did not demonstrate any benefits in optimising bariatric resuscitation. There appears to be a 'physiological benefit' in the class I obese who sustained burns undergoing resuscitation.
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Dissatisfaction is being voiced with the generally used way joint flexibility problems are defined (operationalised), i.e. as a range of motion (ROM) one or more degrees lower than normative ROM of healthy subjects. Other, specifically more function-related operationalisations have been proposed. The current study evaluated the effect of applying different operationalisations of joint flexibility problems on its prevalence. ⋯ The operationalisation of joint flexibility problems substantially influences prevalence, both on group and joint level. Changing to a function-related operationalisation seems valuable; however, international consensus is required regarding its adoption.
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International burn societies in many parts of the world have created electronic registries of burn centers in their region. No such directory exists for the continent of Africa. ⋯ This is the first known online directory of burn sites in Africa. Significant challenges exist identifying burn care providers in large portions of the continent.
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Burns are a significant source of pediatric morbidity and frequently result in transfer of care to a pediatric burn center. Data suggest that referring facilities often overestimate the total body surface area (%TBSA) of burns in comparison to the subsequent assessment at the pediatric burn center. Such discrepancies may trigger inappropriately aggressive interventions with potential for patient harm. Our baseline assessment of data from 106 patients transferred to our pediatric burn center over a one-year period showed that 59/106 (56%) patients had a %TBSA recorded at the time of transfer and 18/59 (31%) had clinically significant differences (>5% difference) in estimates between the referring facility and the pediatric burn center. ⋯ Referring facilities often overestimate the %TBSA in comparison to the subsequent assessment at the pediatric burn center. The consistency of the %TBSA estimates can be improved by interventions that utilize the sharing of a common clinical assessment instrument and standardization of the transfer intake process.