The Journal of burn care & rehabilitation
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Present day economics have challenged health care providers to minimize the length of hospitalization without sacrificing quality of care. Within this context, the purpose of this study was to determine whether supporting the hand and wrist with an Unna's boot dressing (Medicopaste bandage; Graham-Field, Inc., Hauppauge, N. Y.) and splint, and covering the skin graft donor site with calcium alginate (Kaltostat; Calgon Vestal, St. ⋯ This and subsequent follow-up visits revealed a 95% or more take on all skin grafts, without any infectious complications. These results demonstrate the efficacy of Unna's boot support and calcium alginate dressings of donor sites in limited skin graft procedures. Furthermore, these results suggest that more extensive surgical debridements and skin graftings may be successfully shifted to outpatient procedures with use of these adjuvants.
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This retrospective study evaluated 55 patients with burn scar cellulitis who required hospital readmission from January 1977 to July 1994. The overall incidence of burn scar cellulitis was 1.6%, and it was highest among patients who had undergone fascial excision (17.1%) as compared to those who had undergone tangential excisions (1.5%), or those who received nonoperative therapies (0.7%). ⋯ The lower extremity was involved 80% of the time, and the most commonly affected age group was 11 to 15 years. All patients were healthy and displayed no vascular, immunologic, or neurologic compromise at the time of readmission.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Jul 1996
Degree of burn, location of burn, and length of hospital stay as predictors of psychosocial status and physical functioning.
The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of psychologic and physical functioning of the victim with burn injuries from initial hospitalization to discharge. Thirty-one patients admitted to a burn center participated in the study and completed the Burn-Specific Health Scale. Most patients were men between 17 and 45 years of age. ⋯ Having a second-degree burn was not associated with reported psychologic or physical functioning. If the burn involved either the patient's hand or head, the location of the burn predicted certain areas of physical functioning at the first-alert and predischarge stage. Length of hospital stay predicted physical functioning; patients who stayed longer in the hospital reported lower mobility and hand function.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Jul 1996
Debridement of porcine burns with a highly purified, ananain-based cysteine protease preparation.
A novel enzymatic debriding agent was evaluated on experimental full-thickness porcine contact burns. This agent consists of a highly purified, ananain-based, cysteine protease preparation formulated in a hydrophilic cream vehicle. Debridement of full-thickness burns was found to be dependent on several factors including the concentration of enzyme in the vehicle, the duration of treatment, and the hydration status of the burn wound before treatment. ⋯ A direct comparison of debridement efficacy with sutilains ointment, showed the ananain-based, debriding enzyme preparation to provide more rapid debridement of gelatinized tissue. Enzymatically debrided wounds exhibited graft take only after surgical excision of approximately 1 mm of the remaining acellular, avascular dermis. This highly purified enzyme preparation offers the potential for rapid nonsurgical debridement of gelatinized burn tissue, but required additional surgical debridement for graft take in this porcine model.