The Journal of burn care & rehabilitation
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Patients with neurologic disorders are frequently burned in mishaps related directly to their diseases. Once burned, these patients face a mortality rate significantly greater than that of the burn population as a whole. To assess the impact of neurologic disease on burn care, we reviewed the records of 37 patients admitted to our burn center with burns and neurologic illness. ⋯ This comparison revealed significantly longer length of stay for the neurologically impaired sample. We presume that costs of care are also increased for this sample. The high frequency of burn injury among neurologically impaired persons, coupled with the greater difficulty in caring for them, suggests that this group should receive intensive burn prevention educational efforts.
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A study conducted by the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Burn Center of 42 burned pregnant patients indicates that the mortality of both the fetus and mother is dependent upon the percent body burn of the mother. Aggressive surgical therapy, including debridement with eschar excision and skin grafting, increases maternal survival. Chances of successful pregnancy were greatest when the mother was in her first or third trimester at the time of injury; however, no differences were noted in maternal or fetal mortality at different gestational months.
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Review of 1,008 admissions over the past two years to the Detroit Medical Center Burn Unit revealed 227 patients with facial or scalp burns. Of these, 12 patients sustained burns directly as a result of accidentally igniting a hair activator product called "Jheri-Curl." Eleven patients sustained superficial partial-thickness burns and were adequately treated with Dermaide. One had deeper burns requiring split-thickness skin grafting.