Analysis of Geriatric Burns in a Burn Center: Behavioral and Clinical Characteristics

Purpose@#Elderly people are particularly susceptible to burn injuries due to physiological and anatomical aging processes. As the elderly population is expected to grow, the number of burn injuries among this group is also likely to increase. Researchers and health professionals must analyze the causes of geriatric burn injuries, establish targeted preventive policies, and provide education on strategies to minimize burns. @*Methods@#To understand the epidemiological causes of burns in the elderly, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients admitted to our burn center in Korea between January 2019 and December 2021. Of 1,082 patients admitted with burn injuries, 323 (29.9%) were aged 65 years or older and were included in further examination. @*Results@#The elderly patients included more women (64.1%) than men (35.9%), and the causes of burns differed according to gender. Flame burns were more common among men than women, and only men experienced electrical burns. Most older people live alone (54%); accordingly, the most common place of injury for these patients was home (77%), followed by the workplace (14%), with the causes of burns differing between those locations. Sixteen patients (4.9%) started medical treatment at least 2 weeks post-injury, while 29 patients (8.9%) began burn treatment after 1 month. Scalding (55.4%) was the most common cause of burn injury. Most injuries were deep second-(35%) or third-(39%) degree burns, and the most common treatment method was surgery (64.7%). The most frequently affected areas were the legs (24%) and feet (23%). @*Conclusion@#Through this analysis of the clinical profile of burns in the elderly, we endeavored to help establish suitable preventive policies.

Clinical Investigation of Burns from Caramelized Sugar Candy (Dalgona)

Purpose@#Dalgona, a kind of candy made of caramelized sugar, is a popular snack for children. Given the popularity of preparing dalgona, increasingly many patients are treated for burns sustained while preparing dalgona. We report the clinical features and dangers of burns from dalgona. @*Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 11 inpatients and outpatients who had been treated for burns they received while preparing dalgona from March 2020 to December 2020. The data reviewed were age, sex, the severity of the burn, the size and location of the burn, the type of treatment, and the place where the injury occurred. @*Results@#The age of the patients ranged from 3 to 19 years, and the average age was 10.2 years (2 male, 9 female). Three patients had superficial second-degree burns, while eight had deep second-degree or third-degree burns. Most of the cases were treated with a local skin flap or skin graft. All the burned lesions were on the hands and feet. In all cases, the burns occurred at home due to accidental spillage. @*Conclusion@#Most of the patients were children and teenagers, and they had serious burns. Therefore, we report these findings to emphasize the need for public awareness of the potential for burn injuries to occur during dalgona preparation.

Frontonasal dysplasia: A case report

Frontonasal dysplasia is an uncommon congenital anomaly with diverse clinical phenotypes and highly variable clinical characteristics, including hypertelorism, a broad nasal root, median facial cleft, a missing or underdeveloped nasal tip, and a widow's peak hairline. Frontonasal dysplasia is mostly inherited and caused by the ALX genes (ALX1, ALX3, and ALX4). We report a rare case of a frontonasal dysplasia patient with mild hypertelorism, a broad nasal root, an underdeveloped nasal tip, an accessory nasal tag, and a widow's peak. We used soft tissue re-draping to achieve aesthetic improvements.

The periareolar excision technique for improved scars in breast burns

Regardless of size or severity, post-burn breast scars can be traumatic for patients. There are various approaches to post-burn scar management, but herein we present the results of a novel approach in which we tried to remove the scars in an early stage of treatment. Breast burn patients, whose wound area included the nipple-areolar complex, were treated using a periareolar incision design similar to that of periareolar reduction mammoplasty. The remnant scar was located only along the periareolar complex. As a result, more cosmetically satisfactory results were achieved compared to skin grafting or local flap procedures.

Early Debridement and Cultured Allogenic Keratinocyte Dressing Prevent Hypertrophic Scarring in Infants with Deep Dermal Burns

BACKGROUND: Deep dermal burns are frequently treated with excision and skin grafting. Otherwise, wound healing may take up to 4 to 6 weeks, with serious scarring. Especially in pediatric patients, post-burn scarring could result in psychologic trauma and functional disability. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of early debridement and dressing using cultured allogenic keratinocytes in infants with deep dermal burns to prevent hypertrophic scarring. METHODS: From April 2016 to April 2018, 18 infants were treated for deep dermal burns. Except for 5 infants who underwent skin grafting or excision, 13 infants were included in this study. We performed early debridement in these patients using Versajet™ and serial dressings using Kaloderm®. RESULTS: The average operative date was 8.3 days after the accident. The mean healing time was 18.3 days after the accident. The patients did not experience any contraction, but 3 patients had hyperpigmentation, 2 patients had mild hypertrophic scarring, and 1 patient had mixed pigmentation (hyperpigmentation and hypopigmentation). CONCLUSIONS: Our prophylactic scar therapy, using early debridement with Versajet™ and dressings with Kaloderm®, may be beneficial for infants with dermal burns. This method was able to shorten the healing time, resulting in better scar outcomes. Our follow-up findings revealed that the scars had an aesthetically pleasing appearance and patients were able to perform normal activities without restrictions.

Dual Perforator Flap for Reconstruction of Large Sacral Defects: Superior Gluteal Artery Perforator Super-Flap with Parasacral Perforator

The superior gluteal artery perforator flap technique has increasingly been used for soft tissue defects in the sacral area following its introduction nearly 25 years ago. Advantages in covering sacral defects include muscle sparing, versatility in design, and low donor side morbidity. The bilateral superior gluteal artery perforator flap procedure is planned in cases of large sacral defects that cannot be covered with the unilateral superior gluteal artery perforator flap. Here, we report two cases of large sacral defects in which patient factors of poor general health, such as old age, pneumonia, and previous operation scar, led to use of a large unilateral superior gluteal artery perforator super-flap with parasacral perforator. The approach was utilized to reduce the operation time and prevent unpredictable flap failure due to the large flap size. Even though the parasacral perforator was included, the versatility of the large superior gluteal artery perforator flap was preserved because sufficient perforator length was acquired after adequate dissection.

Severe Case of Low Temperature Contact Burn with Rhabdomyolysis

Although low temperature contact burn doesn't have clear definition, it is used to describe the burn occurred by long time exposure under 50℃ temperature. 4(th) degree burn can be occurred by low temperature contact burn because of low pain, especially in patients who are insensitive to stimulation by various reasons. The under-floor heating system such as Ondol or electronic heating pad is popular in Korea because of the cultural influence. Although the upper limit surface temperature of electronic heating pad is 50℃, severe burn injury can happen by long time exposure. So we report a low temperature contact burn case of 4(th) degree involving gluteus maximus muscle of the buttock caused by electric heating pad, which led to Rhabdomyolysis.

Clinical Consideration about Characteristics and Treatment of Scalding Burn Caused by Instant Noodle

PURPOSE: Instant noodle is one of the most popular noodle and its consumption is increasing annually. So scalding burns caused by Instant noodle are comparatively common. Instant noodle can lead to contact burn caused by noodle as well as scalding burn by soup. Because the depth of the burn can be deeper than general scalding burn, it can cause physical or psychological disability and the medical and social expense is not a few. The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiology and clinical features of the scalding burn caused by Instant noodle. METHODS: Retrospective research was conducted 165 patients with scalding burn by Instant noodle among patients admitted to our burn medical center from May 2011 to April 2016. Subjects were classified by age, gender, affected site and degree and treatment method. RESULTS: For 6 years, 165 subjects went through hospital treatment because of the scalding burn by Instant noodle. It consisted of 48 infants, 74 children and adolescence, and 43 adults. The average TBSA (total body surface area, %) was 3.43. The number of patients exceeding 10% were 3. The most common affected site was thigh in 35.5% and there was no big differences between each age group. 8 patients did operations and 6 did dermabrasion. CONCLUSION: From May 2011 to April 2016, about 7% of total scalding burn patients was injured by Instant noodle. Considering the characteristics of scalding burn by Instant noodle, conservative treatment was preferred to surgical treatment. 149 of total 165 patients were done conservative treatment using cultured allogenic keratinocytes.

Treatment of Chronic Osteomyelitis on Medial Malleouls after Electrical Burn Injury by Propeller Flap: A Case Study

It is known that cases of osteomyelitis are less common than 5% in deep burn cases. This research presents a case of chronic osteomyelitis, presented 7 years after initial electrical burn injury. A 43-year-old male patient was admitted to the Department of Plastic Surgery, suffering from an 22900-voltage electrical burn on right medial malleolus in 2010. There was no postoperative complication for five years observation. In November 2016, he was admitted to the Plastic Surgery department, suffering from the skin and soft tissue defect on right medial malleolus without trauma history. The osteomyelitis on the right medial malleolus was found in bone scintigraphy. The medial malleolus was covered with a local flap two days after admission. Dehiscence was found after surgery and exudate was emerged continuously from the flap site. We decided to cover the raw surface with a perforator based propeller flap 22 days after admission considering reconstructive ladder. The flap survived successfully, and partial epidermal sloughing was healed completely by daily dressing at 51 days after the surgery. It is advisable to establish and access the prudent plan before surgery through many kinds of radiological tests and physical examinations considering vascular stability and delayed wound healing.

Coverage of Skin Defect in Deep Second Degree Burn by Using Skin Graft After Advancement Flap

PURPOSE: Skin graft is useful treatment in burn wound. The major disadvantage of traditional skin graft is related to recipient site scarring and donor site morbidity. Then we present our successful experience of using skin graft after advancement flap. METHODS: The study is based on 22 patients who has deep 2nd burn wound with eschar and 3rd degree burn wound. We performed split-thickness skin graft in 17 patients, and fullthickness skin graft in 5 patients. After undermining of wound margin about 1.3 cm~4 cm, we performed suture of wound marginal skin and subcutaneous tissue with absorbable suture materials. Then we harvested skin according to reduced wound size, and we applied donor skin in recipient area. RESULTS: The skin graft area of the 17 patients who had split skin-thickness graft showed a decline of 25% compared with that of the initial burn wound. 5 patents who had full-thickness skin graft also showed a decrease of 10% in the skin graft area compared with that of the initial burn wound. All Grafts were well taken in 22 patients without skin loss. By observing the progress 12 to 15 months after the operation, minor hypertrophic scar on the boundary of grafted skin area was observed in the 2 patents and hypertrophic scar or contracture was not seen in all 22 patients. CONCLUSION: Skin graft after advancement flap can be used as a treatment in deep 2nd degree and 3rd degree burn wound. Compared with traditional skin graft, the result seems to be good cosmetically and functionally.

Clinical Consideration of Contact Burn Caused by Hair Straightener

PURPOSE: Hair straightener is a common tool among various household electric appliances used for hair styling. Hair straightener has plate consists of metal or ceramic, which lead to possible burn if contacted. Main users of hair straightener are young women whereas main victims of hair straightener caused-burn are infants. Among patients visiting our burn medical center, the case of attending hospital due to contact burn by hair straightener tends to increase. METHODS: Retrospective research was conducted 72 patients with contact burn by hair straightener among patients admitted to our burn medical center from Jan 2012 to Dec 2014. Subjects were classified by age, gender, affected site and degree and treatment method. RESULTS: 72 subjects consisted of 39 infants, 9 children, adolescence and 24 adults. Affected sites were presented as hands in 31, face in 21, foot in 13, arms in 5 and legs in 2 subjects. Degree of burn was presented as deep second degrees in 67 and third degrees in 5 subjects; 70 subjects were cured through conservative treatment whereas 2 subjects had local flap. CONCLUSION: Contact burn by hair straightener can be ranged from partial to full thickness skin defect. It is important to note this kind of burn develops more frequently in infants and is preventative. Education for young women who use hair straightener is crucial. Training regarding function and design improvement of hair straightener is also essential. Uncovering the heated plate after use through a separate lock device might be great help for prevention of contact burn if developed.

Usefulness of Silicone Net Dressing in Fixation of Skin Grafts

PURPOSE: Skin graft may fail for a number of reasons. Hematoma or seroma formation prevents graft adherence. Traditionally tie-over dressing has been used in skin graft fixation, but skin graft in convex and narrow place like fingers or toes, tie-over dressing is hard to be applied. And Vaseline gauze over graft often adheres to graft by exudate into gauze fibers and hardening, and may cause damage to graft in dressing change. We report successful results of using silicone net dressing in fixation of split thickness skin graft over these place. METHODS: After skin graft, the silicone net, Mepitel(R) (Molnlycke Health Care, Box 13080, SE-402 52 Goteborg, Sweden) was applied over the graft followed saline wet gauze dressing in 25 patients. 13 cases were on finger, 8 cases were on foot or toes, 4 cases were on anterior chest. RESULTS: In 22 cases, there were no hematoma or seroma formation, Mepitel(R) maintained 5 days after skin graft. And then, Mepitel(R) was removed from the graft. In 3 cases, there were hematoma formation, Mepitel(R) was removed at 3 days after skin graft. In all cases, grafts were taken well without maceration or skin eruption. CONCLUSION: The silicone net, Mepitel(R), is dressing material made of silicone gel bound to a pliable polyamide net, and it can provide uniform pressure to the graft, even in convex and narrow place. And net like structure allows the exudates of the wound to pass freely into the secondary absorbent dressing and easier to remove from the grafts than Vaseline gauze. We think that the use of a Mepitel(R) is a efficient tool for securing skin grafts.

Treatment of Chronic Wound in a Patient with Systemic Vasculitis

Management of chronic wound has been a great problem to many surgeons because the wound is usually associated with an underlying disease of the patient. Without accurate diagnosis and treatment of the disease, the wound can not be healed. Systemic vasculitis is a rare systemic disease which causes inflammation and obstruction of the vessels. This autoimmune disease involves multiple organs and may inflict skin wound spontaneously without traumas. It would improve or aggravate the wound in proportion to the activities of the disease. Our experience is a case of 28-year-old female who has had chronic ulcers on her right foot, especially on the great toe for 1 year. Although she had several operations of sympathectomy, debridement and artificial dermal graft, her wound was not improved. She has been diagnosed as systemic vasculitis during the evaluation for histopathology and cause of fever and pancytopenia. After medical treatments, she had the operation of adipofascial turnover flap coverage and skin graft, and the wound was improved without any complication or relapse. The diagnosis and treatment of the underlying disease should be ahead of the management of chronic wound.