International journal of burns and trauma
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Pediatric burns mortality risk factors in a developing country's tertiary burns intensive care unit.
This study aimed at identifying risk factors related to pediatric burns mortality in a middle income country such as Ghana. ⋯ Age, scald, TBSA and Inhalation Injury were identified as pediatric burns mortality risk factors in a developing country such as Ghana's RPSBU. These identified factors will serve as a guideline for plastic surgeons and other health professionals practicing in countries such as Ghana.
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Burn injuries in low and middle income countries still remain a significant health problem, even though numbers of burn injuries in high income countries have decreased showing that such events are not "accidents" but are usually preventable. WHO states that the vast majority (over 95%) of fire-related burns occur in low and middle income countries. Burn injuries are a major cause of prolonged hospital stays, disfigurement, disability, and death in Africa Region. ⋯ Children need to be kept away from fires. Epileptics should be monitored for medication and kept away from cooking fires as well. Community members need to be encouraged to bring wrong doers to the police.
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The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of platelet dressing in the treatment of burn wounds and compare its results with silver sulfadiazine dressing. ⋯ It is concluded that topical application of platelet enhanced the wound healing process in burn patients.
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The Combat Ready Clamp (CRoC™) was designed to control hemorrhage from the groin region, on the battlefield. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether CRoC™ user performance varied by the surface the casualty laid on (flat-hard, flat-soft, and curved-soft) and how quickly the device could be applied. The commercial manikin selected to assess user performance was designed to train soldiers in CRoC™ use. ⋯ Users were trained to use the Combat Ready Clamp effectively, and the surface the casualty was lying on made some difference to user performance. All six persons trained had success in all nine of their iterations of CRoC™ use- a 100% rate. These findings indicate that training was effective and that training of other users is plausible, feasible, and practical within the scope of the present evidence.
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To determine the types of functional disabilities in adult and paediatric burns survivors, with specific emphasis on potential risk and socio-economic factors of burn disabilities present in Ghana. ⋯ The commonest functional disabilities recorded were scar contractions of the axilla region which had impeded the ability of the patients to lift the arm. Risk factors for burns disability included childhood age, third degree of burn incurred and anatomical part affected. Social factors influencing the lives of burn survivors with disability were good family and negative community interactions. Significant economical factors recorded were caretakers' time and financial constrains.