Burns
Biological assays were adopted in this study to examine the changes in serum tumour necrosis factor (TNF) activity and blood monocytic in vitro production of interleukin 1 (IL-1) in 24 severely burned patients. The myocardial and hepatic enzymes (which included aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), α hydroxybutyric dehydrogenase (α-HBDH) and alanine...
Male spouse abuse seems to be on the increase. Recognition of these injuries is often difficult as patients are reluctant to disclose the aetiology and press charges against the assailant. We identified a similar group of male patients who sustained burns to their external genitalia secondary to spouse abuse
Exposures of as little as 2.5 per cent of the body surface to concentrated hydrofluoric acid (HF) may be fatal. Survival after major HF exposures is facilitated by aggressive emergency management which, we feel, includes wound irrigation, subeschar injection of calcium gluconate, monitored supplementation of serum calcium, and prompt wound excision carried out as an emergency procedure. The following...
Motor vehicles are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Burn injuries sustained from motor vehicles form a small but important subgroup. The authors have reviewed the case notes of 107 patients with motor vehicle-related burns over a 13-year period. The age ranged from 18 months to 65 years and the male to female ratio was 4:1. The mechanisms of injury were variable, although four major categories...
The usage of tannic acid (TA) as a topical agent in burns in the past and the present is described. Its introduction by Davidson in 1925 led to the widespread use of TA. The high infection risk during times of war and reports of liver damage after application of high doses of undefined TA mixtures brought discredit to the TA treatment. German and Chinese authors have been able to refute these claims...
During the New Year 1991-92, a total of 17 patients with burns caused by fireworks (an unprecedentedly high number) were admitted to the two Danish burns units. They were all males and all had carried the causative firework in their clothes; 88 per cent were minors, and 87 per cent of these had bought their fireworks themselves in ordinary shops. Fireworks described as whistles were responsible...
The local treatment effects of EGF forms on alkali burned mice corneal wounds were identified. The corneal wounds were induced by 0.5 M NaOH solution on the corneal surfaces of the mice. The local epidermal growth factor solutions (100 ng/ml) and gel form in 0.2 per cent w/w carbopol 940 (100 ng/ml) were dropped in 5 μl aliquots into the eye twice a day. The corneal wounds were measured for 15...
Scalds are common in South Africa and accounted for 21.6 per cent of the admissions to the Burns Unit of the University of Cape Town. Two hundred and forty adult patients (160 males, 80 females) with a mean age of 34.2 years were admitted for treatment of scalds between 1985 and June 1992. One hundred and thirteen sustained their scalds accidentally while 127 patients were assaulted with hot water...
A prospective study of 352 patients in an Asian National Burn Centre has been used to develop statistical predictive models for mortality and hospitalization time. The patients are largely of Asian origin. Total burn surface area (%TBSA) and presence of respiratory burns are significant independent predictors of mortality in the multiple logistic regression analysis with an accuracy of 98.3 per...
A patient with 75 per cent of the body surface area burned developed metastatic endophthalmitis with orbital cellulitis leading to panophthalmitis in the right eye. In an estimated 1700 patients with burns treated in the same hospital over a period of 9 years (1984 to 1993), this is the first patient developing metastatic endophthalmitis. A possible pathological basis for the sequence of events...
The deforming forces of the scar contracture associated with burns of the head and neck region involve primarily the skin and secondarily the facial musculoskeletal structures. A case of severe face and neck burn accompanied by extreme facial skeletal deformity is reported. Best results are obtained in patients treated properly and promptly by a team including plastic and maxillofacial surgeons...
Early enteral feeding and high protein nutrition have been advocated for burned patients. The safety and efficacy of early high protein nasogastric feeding (NG) have not been evaluated in very young children. The present study evaluated such feeding in children less than 3 years old with smaller burns (8-25 per cent of total body surface area). Children (n = 10) were able to tolerate high protein...
The objectives of this research were to study the epidemiological characteristics and home-based treatment of childhood burns in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Children aged 0-5 years with a burn history were identified through a community-based, multisite survey. A standard questionnaire was administered to mothers of 630 of these children to elicit information on their sociodemographic characteristics...
The dermis is an important element in skin substitutes and in allo- or xeno-skin grafts. However, the reason(s) why dermis does not significantly induce the immune rejection reaction in vivo remain(s) hitherto unknown. To clarify the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, we undertook the evaluation of: (i) the response of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) to isolated allo-dermal cells...
In three previous studies the Water-Jel (WJ) system was found to protect burn wounds from microbial contamination, to have excellent analgesic and cooling effects when used as a first-aid dressing and to be bactericidal to 15 microorganisms including yeasts tested from the Ostrava Burn Unit. Now a new WJ system has been introduced without povidone iodine. An extensive bacteriological laboratory...
A detailed analysis of bacteriuria in 148 aged patients with burns was made for a period of 2 years (1991-92), in order to determine the incidence of the urine infections they sustained, the sources and mechanisms of the infections and the impact on the course and outcome of the primary disease. Urine infection was found in 7.6 per cent (46 patients) of all patients treated for burns during the study...
Hydrotherapy is an important part of wound care and physical therapy. The benefits of hydrotherapy are derived from water's cleansing ability, buoyancy, drag, inertia and temperature. If the temperature of the water is not adequately controlled, an immersion scald burn can occur. A paraplegic patient who was receiving hydrotherapy for treatment of his malleolar ulcers sustained immersion scald...
In this study on patients with thermal trauma, we examined the effects of standard therapy plus prophylactic polyclonal immunoglobulin G (IgG) treatment on humoral and cellular contents, cell phenotype and function of the immune system, and compare these with those found in patients receiving only standard therapy. The quantitative, peripheral-blood mononuclear cell panel shows a decrease in the...
To document the risk of catheter sepsis associated with central venous catheter changes every 7 days in paediatric burn patients, an analysis of data collected prospectively on 234 such catheters was performed. During an 18-month period there were 301 acutely burned children admitted to a regional paediatric burn facility of whom 53, with an average burn size of 42 per cent TBSA, required 234 central...