Cost analysis of severe burn victims in Southwest China: A 7-year retrospective study.

Background: Severe burn injury can be a life-threatening experience and can also lead to financial issues for suffers. The purpose of the current study was to analyze the direct hospitalization costs of severe burn inpatients in Southwest China. Methods: Data related to all inpatients admitted with severe burns [total body surface area (TBSA) ≥30%] pooled from 2015 to 2021 were reviewed retrospectively at the Institute of Burn Research of Army Medical University. Demographic parameters, medical economics, and clinical data were obtained from medical records. Results: A total of 668 cases were identified. The average age was 37.49 ± 21.00 years, and 72.3% were men. The average TBSA was 51.35 ± 19.49%. The median length of stay of inpatients in the burn intensive care unit was 14 [interquartile range (IQR): 5.0-34.8] days, and the median length of stay (LOS) was 41 (IQR: 22.0-73.8) days. The mortality rate was 1.6%. The median total cost was 212,755.45 CNY (IQR: 83,908.80-551,621.57 CNY) per patient varying from 3,521.30 to 4,822,357.19 CNY. The direct cost of scald burns was dramatically lower compared with that of other types of burns, with 11,213.43 to 2,819,019.14 CNY. Medical consumables presented the largest portion of total costs, with a median cost of 65,942.64 CNY (IQR: 18,771.86-171,197.97 CNY). The crucial risk factors for medical cost in our study were TBSA, surgical frequency, LOS, depth of burn, and outcome. Conclusion: We conclude that an effective burn prevention program, shorter hospital stays, and facilitating the healing of wounds should be focused on with tailored precautionary protocols to reduce the medical costs of inpatients with severe burns.

Engineered Cell Membrane-Derived Nanoparticles in Immune Modulation.

Immune modulation is one of the most effective approaches in the therapy of complex diseases, including public health emergency. However, most immune therapeutics such as drugs, vaccines, and cellular therapy suffer from the limitations of poor efficacy and adverse side effects. Fortunately, cell membrane-derived nanoparticles (CMDNs) have superior compatibility with other therapeutics and offer new opportunities to push the limits of current treatments in immune modulation. As the interface between cells and outer surroundings, cell membrane contains components which instruct intercellular communication and the plasticity of cytomembrane has significantly potentiated CMDNs to leverage our immune system. Therefore, cell membranes employed in immunomodulatory CMDNs have gradually shifted from natural to engineered. In this review, unique properties of immunomodulatory CMDNs and engineering strategies of emerging CMDNs for immune modulation, with an emphasis on the design logic are summarized. Further, this review points out some pressing problems to be solved during clinical translation and put forward some suggestions on the prospect of immunoregulatory CMDNs. It is anticipated that this review can provide new insights on the design of immunoregulatory CMDNs and expand their potentiation in the precise control of the dysregulated immune system.

Management strategies for the burn ward during COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic is sweeping the globe. Any outpatient or new inpatient especial in burn department during the pandemic should be as a potential infectious source of COVID-19. It is very important to manage the patients and wards carefully and correctly to prevent epidemic of the virus in burn centers. This paper provides some strategies regarding management of burn ward during the epidemic of COVID-19 or other respiratory infectious diseases.

Experience and suggestion of medical practices for burns during the outbreak of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is spreading almost all over the world at present, which is caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). It was an epidemic firstly in Hubei province of China. The Chinese government has formally set COVID-19 in the statutory notification and control system for infectious diseases according to the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases. China currently is still struggling to respond to COVID-19 though intensive actions with progress made. The Burn Department of our hospital is one of sections with the highest infectious risk of COVID-19. Based on our own experience and the guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 (7th Version) with other regulations and literature, we describe our experience with suggestions for medical practices for burn units during the COVID-19 outbreak. We hope these experiences and suggestions benefit our international colleagues during the pandemic of the COVID-19.