The Journal of burn care & rehabilitation
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The statewide Burn Prevention Program has demonstrated a significant improvement in testable knowledge of burn prevention and fire safety among children and senior citizens as a result of an effective educational program. Formal evaluation using written examinations was done with the children. The statistical significance of the results of these evaluations was analyzed using chi square tests and two sample t tests. ⋯ Senior citizens were assisted with a pre-program questionnaire. The results of this questionnaire were compared to the results of "BURN-GO" (copyright 1986), a bingotype game, played immediately after the educational session. Again, the post-implementation results of the program were significantly higher than those achieved prior to the intervention.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Jul 1988
Reduced wound contraction after grafting of full-thickness burns with a collagen and chondroitin-6-sulfate (GAG) dermal skin substitute and coverage with biobrane.
Full-thickness burns destroy both the epidermal and dermal tissues of the skin. This study evaluates a collagen and chondroitin-6-sulfate dermal skin substitute (graft) that was applied to excised full-thickness burns and covered with Biobrane. Experimental conditions included: (a) no burn, subcutaneous implantation of the graft; (b) burn, excision, graft, coverage with Biobrane and bandages; (c) burn, excision, no graft, coverage with Biobrane and bandages; (d) burn only. forty-one days post-surgery, subcutaneous implantation (N = 3) of the graft caused no detectable contraction or necrosis of the overlying skin, whereas all burn wounds contracted. ⋯ Histological appearance of healed wounds after grafting and coverage with Biobrane resembles undamaged skin without epidermal adnexal structures. Excision of full-thickness burn eschar, followed by grafting with a collagen and chondroitin-6-sulfate dermal skin substitute and coverage with Biobrane provides reduced wound contraction within a six-week period of observation compared to non-excised wounds. Both more rapid and more complete wound healing took place compared to excised wounds that were not grafted.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Jul 1988
Combined topical use of silver sulfadiazine and antibiotics as a possible solution to bacterial resistance in burn wounds.
The superior efficacy of quinolones (norfloxacin, pefloxacin, and enoxacin) in controlling burn wound infections signals the discovery of new topical agents. However, there are a few reports on the emergence of resistant mutants to quinolones. Since attempts to develop AgSD resistant strains in vitro were unsuccessful and the emergence of AgSD resistance in vivo is a rare occurrence, we decided to investigate if the combined use of AgSD with other effective antibiotics, especially quinolones, would minimize the development of resistant bacteria. ⋯ Thus, combined use of silver sulfadiazine and quinolones appears to diminish the ability of Ps. aeruginosa strains to form resistant mutants. Furthermore, when the combination is used as a topical agent in burn wounds, lesser amounts of the individual drug are needed to control infection thereby reducing the toxic effects, if any, associated with these drugs. This combination does not in any way interfere with the antifungal or antibacterial properties of these individual drugs.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Jul 1988
Psychological stages in adaptation following burn injury: a method for facilitating psychological recovery of burn victims.
As a result of clinical observation of 444 patients hospitalized for treatment of acute burn injury at Humana Burn Center between July 1983 and October 1986, we have developed a seven-stage method of assessing and assisting the burn victim's psychological recovery. This method delineates the stages in the normal psychological healing process in burn victims and offers specific suggestions for staff interventions to assist the patient at each stage. This method can be utilized in an integrated fashion by all members of the multi-disciplinary burn team to expedite the patient's psychological recovery and to maximize his compliance with necessary treatment modalities.