Annals of burns and fire disasters
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Ann Burns Fire Disasters · Jun 2013
ReviewAdvantages of collagen based biological dressings in the management of superficial and superficial partial thickness burns in children.
Collagen based dressings for acute burn wound management have been extensively used in India, particularly in the city of Chennai. Due to the high levels of humidity in our city, closed dressings become infected and treatment with topical antimicrobials, like Silver Sulfadiazine cream, quickly become desiccated. Collagen membrane dressings were manufactured by the biomaterial laboratory of the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Government of India in Chennai, and then the process was patented. ⋯ After several trials the process technology was patented. The advantages and disadvantages of the collagen membrane cover is elaborated in a group of 487 pediatric burn patients. The trial was conducted at the burn unit of Kanchi Kamakoti Childs Trust Hospital (KKCTH) in Chennai, India.
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Ann Burns Fire Disasters · Mar 2013
Primary triage of mass burn casualties with associated severe traumatic injuries.
A key aim in any mass disaster event is to avoid diverting resources by overwhelming specialized tertiary centers with minor casualties. The most crucial aspect of an effective disaster response is pre-hospital triage at the scene. ⋯ In most major burns disasters, victims mostly have combined trauma burn injuries and form a heterogeneous group with a broad range of devastating injuries. Are these victims primarily burn patients or trauma patients? Should they be taken care of in a burn center or in a trauma center or only in a combined burns-trauma center? Who makes the decision? The present review is aimed at answering some of these questions.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI), although rare, is a major complication of burn injury that commonly leads to mortality. It results from a complex interplay of various cellular and neuro-humoral changes affecting burn patients. Guidelines for the treatment of this entity are still not well defined; therefore, prevention and early diagnosis are key to avoid the unfavorable prognosis of AKI. ⋯ The aim of this review is to present the salient features in burn patient physiology that contribute to AKI. Strategies for identifying early AKI are presented. Finally, the different treatment modalities are revisited.
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The Burn Specific Health Scale - Brief (BSHS-B) is one of the most commonly used instruments for the evaluation of quality of life after burn injury. It can be self-administered, and it is useful in evaluating psychopathological symptoms in burn victims. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the BSHS-B into Greek, assessing its internal consistency and validity. ⋯ The test-retest coefficient using kappa correlation was 0.830 (p < 0.001). Significant correlations were identified between BSHS-B subscales and the SF-36 subscales - Physical and Social Functioning, and Emotional Role. Despite the limited size of the sample, the Greek version of the BSHS-B shows good reliability and construct validity and can be used in clinical practice for further evaluations of burn patients' quality of life.
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Ann Burns Fire Disasters · Dec 2012
Epidemiological data, outcome, and costs of burn patients in Kermanshah.
Burn injuries in both developed and developing countries cause long-term disability, mortality, and socio-economic costs that are imposed on patients, families, and societies. This study was carried out to investigate the epidemiology, outcome, and cost of hospitalization of 388 burn patients admitted to the Imam Khomeini Hospital Burn Center in Kermanshah, Iran, between 21 March 2011 and 20 March 2012. The data about demographics, cause of burns, degree of burns, outcome of burns, burned body surface (BBS), length of stay (LOS), and cost of hospitalization were collected by reviewing medical records and analysed by SPSS 16. ⋯ The cost per one percentage of burn and one day of hospitalization was 562,632 IRR and 2,263,631 IRR, respectively. The main factors relevant to death were identified including the extent of burn, gender, age, causes, and degree of burn. In addition, LOS proved to have a higher impact on costs than burn percentage.