The Journal of burn care & rehabilitation
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This article reviews the literature about the extent of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with burns. PTSD is a relatively new diagnostic label, although the emotional effects of severe trauma have long been recognized. A burn injury-one of the most traumatic of all injuries--can be accompanied by serious psychological sequelae, including PTSD. ⋯ Psychosocial issues must be considered in the recovery or rehabilitation phase. Pharmacotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing may be helpful to the PTSD patient. Early detection and treatment of PTSD cannot only diminish the effects of this disabling disorder but can also help the rehabilitation of patients with this condition.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Sep 1999
Procalcitonin as a marker for the early diagnosis of severe infection after thermal injury.
High serum concentrations of procalcitonin (PCT), the 116 amino acid precursor protein of the hormone calcitonin, have been found in patients with various bacterial infections, particularly in those with sepsis. Because recent reports have shown that serum PCT constitutes a useful parameter for the diagnosis of sepsis in patients with several clinical conditions, a temporal analysis of the PCT concentrations in the plasma of 19 patients with severe burns (median body surface area burned, 32%) was conducted retrospectively. Nine patients were classified as septic on the basis of standardized clinical and laboratory parameters. ⋯ PCT concentrations exceeding 15 microg/L were only observed in the 3 patients who died of sepsis-induced multiple organ failure. In addition to absolute PCT, individual time courses were also of diagnostic value. PCT is a highly efficient laboratory parameter for the diagnosis of severe infectious complications after a burn injury.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Sep 1999
Acute respiratory failure that complicates the resuscitation of pediatric patients with scald injuries.
Respiratory failure that requires endotracheal intubation is an uncommon but potentially fatal complication of scald burns in children. Because scalds are rarely associated with a direct pulmonary injury, the pathophysiology of respiratory failure is unclear. A possible mechanism may be upper airway edema, diminished pulmonary compliance secondary to fluid resuscitation, or both. ⋯ Multivariate analysis demonstrated that both larger burn size (P = .041) and younger age (P = .049) were independent predictors of the need for intubation. Young patients with large body surface area burns that required large volumes of resuscitation comprise an at-risk group for respiratory failure after a scald injury. Increased vigilance is merited during the resuscitation of these patients.
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J Burn Care Rehabil · Sep 1999
Early burn center transfer shortens the length of hospitalization and reduces complications in children with serious burn injuries.
Prompt transfer of the child with acute burns can be difficult from distant or inaccessible locations, and it is believed that the outcomes of children with serious burns whose transfer to a specialized burn care facility is delayed may be compromised. A 4-year experience with 16 consecutive children with serious burns (> or =20% of the body surface area) whose transfer to a burn care facility was delayed for 5 or more days was reviewed to document the difficulties that can follow such delays. These 16 children had an average age of 8.6+/-1.6 years and an average wound size of 57.6%+/-5.8% of the body surface area, and they arrived a mean of 16.3+/-3.4 days after the injury (range, 5 to 44 days). ⋯ Compared with a concurrently managed matched control group of patients admitted to the burn center within 24 hours of injury, the delayed-transfer group had statistically significantly more bacteremia, renal dysfunction, wound sepsis, and central venous catheter days. It was also more expensive to manage these children; the delayed-transfer group required statistically significantly longer to achieve 95% wound closure, and they had greater total lengths of hospital stay and more rehabilitation days. The early transfer of children with serious burns to a specialized burn center may truncate hospitalization and thereby reduce costs.
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Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is a well-recognized perioperative complication that occurs in patients who undergo intra-abdominal operations and who require extensive fluid resuscitation. The classic presentation of this syndrome includes high peak airway pressures; oliguria, despite adequate filling pressures; and intra-abdominal pressures of more than 25 mm Hg. A decompressive laparotomy performed at the bedside can alleviate ACS. ⋯ The mortality rate among these patients was 100%, which confirms the grave consequences of this syndrome. In our institution, intra-abdominal pressure is now routinely measured as part of the burn resuscitation process in an attempt to diagnose and treat this syndrome earlier and more efficaciously. It is recommended that the possibility of ACS be considered when diagnosing any patient with burns who develops high airway pressures, oliguria, or both.