Burn care: results of technical and organizational progress.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Robert L Sheridan.
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Bacteria-controlled nursing units (BCNUs) are laminar air-flow patient isolation units. The rate of cross-colonization with resistant organisms in 66 critically ill pediatric burn patients with massive open wounds and ventilators housed in BCNUs during 5 years was examined and found to be extremely low (3.2 cases per 1,000 patient-days).
During the past 20 yrs, as burn care has evolved as a specialty of surgery, survival and outcome quality have soared. Public expectations for survival and long-term outcomes are at previously unprecedented levels. These changes are the result of a number of advances in aspects of burn care that have occurred in parallel and have fostered increasing regionalization of this resource-intensive activity into fewer specialized centers. These are complex hospitalizations and can be divided into four phases: initial evaluation and resuscitation, initial wound excision and biological closure, definitive wound closure, and rehabilitation and reconstruction.
BACKGROUND: Increased mortality, extensive visceral involvement, and necrotizing tracheobronchitis associated with herpes viruses have been reported after burns. It is unclear whether herpes presenting as a facial rash results in outcome changes after burns. METHODS: A retrospective study characterizing the incidence, presentation, and outcome of 14 patients with facial herpes rashes out of 95 severely burned intubated adults was performed. RESULTS: Facial rashes attributed to herpetic infections were found in at least 15% of patients. The problem was recognized during the second week after burn. There was no difference in mortality or length of stay noted between patients with or without the infection. CONCLUSION: The course of this infection was relatively benign in this group of acyclovir-treated patients. Even so, the lesions clearly contributed to patient discomfort and often produced fevers requiring costly investigations. Early recognition could help prevent diffuse spread of the lesions, decreasing patient discomfort and improving patient care.
OBJECTIVE: Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is an acute inflammatory systemic condition that involves injury not just to the skin. Historically, it has been associated with a high mortality but few long-term consequences among survivors. With improved survival, long-term consequences may be becoming more apparent. The objective of this study was to define these long-term consequences and their frequency. METHODS: From July 1, 1991, to June 30, 2000, 11 children with severe TEN were referred to a regional pediatric burn facility. Wounds were managed with a strategy involving prevention of wound desiccation and superinfection, including the frequent use of biological wound coverings. All children survived and have been followed in the burn clinic. The records of all children were reviewed in detail. RESULTS: Two boys and 9 girls with an average age of 7.2 +/- 1.8 years (range: 6 months-15 years) and sloughed surface area of 76 +/- 6% of the body surface (range: 50%-95%) were admitted to the burn unit for care. Antibiotics (3 children), anticonvulsants (4 children), nonsteroidals (2 children), and viral syndrome or unknown agents (2 children) were believed to have triggered the syndrome. Six (55%) children required intubation for an average of 9.7 +/- 1.8 days (range: 2-14 days). Mucosal involvement occurred in 10 (91%) and ocular involvement in 10 (91%). Lengths of stay averaged 19 +/- 3 days (range: 6-40 days). Overall follow-up averaged 14 +/- 13 months. Three children had no apparent long-term consequences of the disease and were referred to primary care follow-up after the 2-month burn clinic visit. The remaining children had follow-up averaging 23 +/- 13 months. The most common long-term morbidity involved eyes (3 children [27%]), nails (4 children [36%]), and variegated skin depigmentation (all children). One child developed vaginal stenosis from mucosal inflammation. No esophageal strictures or recurrent TEN has been diagnosed. CONCLUSIONS: Survival has improved in children with TEN, but long-term sequelae are not infrequent. The most common long-term consequences involve the eyes, the skin, and the nails.
Mortality and length of stay (LOS) of survivors was examined retrospectively in 270 adults with acute burns > or =20% of body surface area to determine the effect of Integra Dermal Regeneration Template treatment on outcome. No difference in mortality was found between patients who received Integra (30%; n = 43) and patients who did not (30%; n = 227). Surviving Integra patients (n = 30) stayed longer, but they were more extensively injured than survivors who did not receive Integra (n = 158), and therefore longer hospitalizations were expected. In a subgroup analysis, mean LOS of Integra patients with two or more mortality risk factors (age > 60 years, burn size >40% body surface area, or inhalation injury; n = 15) was 63 days compared with 107 days in patients with two or more risk factors (n = 29) who did not receive Integra ( =.014). Integra use in severely injured burned adults was associated with a marked decrease in LOS.
The safety and effectiveness of Integra Dermal Regeneration Template was evaluated in a postapproval study involving 216 burn injury patients who were treated at 13 burn care facilities in the United States. The mean total body surface area burned was 36.5% (range, 1-95%). Integra was applied to fresh, clean, surgically excised burn wounds. Within 2 to 3 weeks, the dermal layer regenerated, and a thin epidermal autograft was placed. The incidence of invasive infection at Integra-treated sites was 3.1% (95% confidence interval, 2.0-4.5%) and that of superficial infection 13.2% (95% confidence interval, 11.0-15.7%). Mean take rate of Integra was 76.2%; the median take rate was 95%. The mean take rate of epidermal autograft was 87.7%; the median take rate was 98%. This postapproval study further supports the conclusion that Integra is a safe and effective treatment modality in the hands of properly trained clinicians under conditions of routine clinical use at burn centers.