Interleukin-6 after burn injury and its relationship to burn wound sepsis

To investigate the role of interleukin-6 in the pathophysiology of burn injury, this study was carried out on 25 burned patients with burned total body surface area [TBSA] ranging from 17% to 86% and 13 healthy individuals as a control group. Blood samples were collected from all patients on admission, on the 5th day and on the 12th day post-burn as well as from controls and were tested for detection of IL-6 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Moreover, blood cultures and quantitiative culture of burn wound biopsy specimens were done on the 5th day and 12th day for evidence of infection. This study revealed that all patients had significantly higher levels of IL-6 than controls and there were no significant differences in its level in relation to age, burned TBSA, type of burn, presence of inhalation injury and mortality. However, the highest level of IL-6 was detected on the 5th day post-burn, which coincided with the detection of infection in these patients. From this study, it can be concluded that IL-6 is released after burn injury and may play a significant role in the pathophysiology of sepsis in burned patients

Study of bacterial colonization and infection of the tracheobronchial tree in intubated patients in respiratory intensive paients in resiratory intensive care unit

In this study, serial bacteriological samples including oropharyngeal, endotracheal and lower respiratory tract samples were collected from 20 patients in the respiratory intensive care unit [ICU] who were intubated and mechanically ventilated for at least 3 days. The results of this study showed the prevalence of gram negative bacilli in all bacteriological samples. The lower respiratory tract specimens were collected by the protected specimen brush catheter [PSB catheter] which was useful in both the bacteriological culture and colony count of these specimens to differentiate between colonization and true infection. So, we may recommend its use routinely in bacteriological sampling of such specimens