Retrospective Evaluation of Characteristics of Patients with Burn Injuries Treated at the Largest Reference Hospital in Brazil.

Burn injuries are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the Brazilian population. We conducted this study in a tertiary hospital in Brazil to discover the epidemiological characteristics of patients with burn injuries. We conducted a cohort review of patients admitted to the burn unit of our institute during a 5-year period. For each patient, we collected data that included age, gender, total percentage of burned body surface area, burn location, burn mode, and burn cause. We analyzed the data using the R programming language. We included a total of 496 patients in our study. The mean age of the patients was 28 ± 14.7 years. The median length of hospital stay was 2 weeks. We found a significant correlation between the total percentage of burned body surface area and the length of hospitalization (p < .001) and the length of hospitalization in the intensive care unit (p < .001). A total of 427 patients (86%) were discharged from the hospital after successful treatment. In contrast, 43 patients (8.67%) died. The mortality rate was highest in patients who had more than 70% of their total body surface area burned. The average length of hospitalization aligned with global and national statistics presented in the literature. The main causes of the burn injuries were thermal (e.g., fire, hot liquids). We found inhalation injuries present in more than one third of the patients who were hospitalized in the intensive care unit with thermal burns.

Retrospective Evaluation Of The Accuracy Of Five Different Severity Scores To Predict The Mortality In Burns Patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients with great clinical impairment, due to extensive burns, need to be admitted to intensive care units, in these treatment sites, indices are used to classify the severity of patients. The aim of the study was to compare the accuracy of the FLAMES score in relation to the Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), the Simplified Acute Physiologic Score II (SAPS II), the Logistic Organ Dysfunction System (LODS) and the Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI) applied to the severe burn patient facing mortality in an ICU of a reference center for burns in Brazil. METHODS: A retrospective study conducted in ICU comparing the accuracy the APACHE II, SAPS II, LODS, ABSI and FLAMES instruments were applied to all the selected medical records. To evaluate the accuracy of the SIs, the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve was calculated and the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Among the 574 patients included in the study, male individuals (70.13%), with an average age of 44.01 ± 28.64 prevailed and the majority of the burns were caused by accidents (76.53%). The outcome accounted for 35.29% of deaths. It was observed that the FLAMES and ABSI presented the two largest areas under the ROC curves and the highest sensitivities (96% and 89%, respectively). The APACHE II, SAPS II and LODS presented sensitivities equal to or greater than 80%. CONCLUSIONS: It has been demonstrated that indices specifically developed for burn patients, specifically the FLAMES and ABSI indices, presented better accuracies and prediction performances.

Complicated Surgical Wounds and Associated Factors in Oncology Patients.

The objective of this study was to identify the occurrence of complicated surgical wounds (CSWs) and to analyze the associated factors in hospitalized patients at an oncology institution. This was an epidemiological, observational, cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational study conducted in the intensive care and hospitalization units forming part of a large cancer hospital. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from medical records and physical examinations of the skin. Associations between the dependent variable (presence of CSWs) and the independent variables were obtained by chi-square tests and odds ratio (OR) calculations with a 95% confidence interval. Logistic regression (LASSO) was used to verify the possible predictors of the outcome. The sample consisted of 341 patients, specifically individuals who are White (46.9%), married (53.4%), and men (58.1%) with an average age of 59.2 years. Complicated surgical wounds were present in 3.2% of patients, and the most frequent types of complications were dehiscence (40%), infection (26.7%), and fistula (20%) present in the abdominal (40%), cephalic (26.7%), and cervical (13.3%) regions. Senile purpura, diaper use, and infection were the clinical variables associated with the occurrence of CSWs (p = .044, p = .001, and p < .001, respectively). Based on the logistic regression, the presence of infection (p < .001; OR = 90.8; 95% CI [18.42, 538.79]) persisted as a predictor of the occurrence of CSWs. From these observations, recommendations regarding best practices for the prevention of CSWs are made, specifically for patients with cancer.

The Role of Biological Skin Substitutes in Stevens-Johnson Syndrome: Systematic Review.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a disease that causes skin exfoliative lesions, characterized by fever, necrosis, and epidermal detachment. Biological skin substitutes may be considered interesting options for the treatment of this disease. This study aims at identifying in the literature the evidence on the current role of these biomaterials in the treatment of SJS and its related diseases. A systematic review with a search period between 2003 and 2017 was carried out, consulting the Lilacs, BVS, and PubMed databases. The quality of the included studies was evaluated by the Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine Classification, for evaluating levels of evidence from the scientific publications. Ninety-five publications were found, and after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, they resulted in 9 articles. In total, 20 patients with 73.87% average of body surface affected received SJS skin treatment with some biological substitutes, among them are cutaneous allograft, amnion, and xenograft. Mortality rate was 10%, and in these situations, literature indicates mortality rates ranging from 25% to 70%. Effectiveness of the use of biological dressings may be a possible explanation for this finding. Findings indicate the use of these biomaterials may favor reepithelialization, reduce water loss, decrease the chance of infection, and, consequently, improve the survival of patients with SJS and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Biological skin substitutes have characteristics that make them very promising in the topical treatment of these wounds, but their use remains very restricted in the treatment of SJS.

Manejo da dor em crianças queimadas: Revisão integrativa / Management of pain in burned children: An integrative review / Manejo del dolor en niños quemados: Revisión integrativa

A dor e o sofrimento estão associados com queimaduras, trazem efeitos fisiológicos e emocionais adversos, principalmente em crianças. O controle adequado da dor é um fator importante na melhora dos resultados clínicos. Este estudo tem como objetivo identificar na literatura os princípios ativos mais utilizados para a analgesia em crianças vítimas de queimaduras. Foi realizada uma revisão com um período de busca entre 2008 e 2018, consultando as bases de dados LILACS, Scielo e Medline/PubMed. Duzentas e vinte e cinco publicações foram encontradas e, após a aplicação dos critérios de inclusão e exclusão, 12 artigos relatavam os princípios ativos medicamentosos utilizados para analgesia em crianças queimadas. Os medicamentos mais encontrados foram paracetamol, morfina, ketamina, propofol, AINEs e fentanil. Os profissionais de saúde precisam reconhecer o significado da dor relacionada às crianças queimadas e estar atualizados sobre as várias opções farmacológicas disponíveis. Assim, ter aprofundamento sobre dosagem e via de administração, bem como o conhecimento com queimaduras pediátricas, pode romper barreiras para beneficiar o paciente com o início precoce da administração de analgésicos.

Pain and suffering are associated with burns, they bring adverse physiological and emotional effects mainly on children. Adequate pain control is an important factor in improving clinical outcomes. This study aims to identify in the literature the active principles most used for analgesia in children victims of burns. A review was conducted with a search period between 2008 and 2018, consulting the LILACS, Scielo and Medline / PubMed databases. Two hundred and twenty five publications were found and, after the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 articles reported the active drug principles used for analgesia in burned children. The most commonly found drugs were paracetamol, morphine, ketamine, propofol, NSAIDs and fentanyl. Health professionals need to recognize the meaning of pain related to burned children and be up to date on the various pharmacological options available. Thus, having in-depth dosing and route of administration as well as knowledge with pediatric burns can break down barriers to benefit the patient with the early onset of analgesic administration.

El dolor y el sufrimiento están asociados con quemaduras, traen efectos fisiológicos y emocionales adversos principalmente en los niños. El control adecuado del dolor es un factor importante en la mejora de los resultados clínicos. Este estudio tiene como objetivo identificar en la literatura los principios activos más utilizados para la analgesia en niños víctimas de quemaduras. Se realizó una revisión con un período de búsqueda entre 2008 y 2018, consultando las bases de datos LILACS, Scielo y Medline / PubMed. Se encontraron doscientas veinticinco publicaciones y, después de la aplicación de los criterios de inclusión y exclusión, 12 artículos relataban los principios activos medicamentosos utilizados para la analgesia en niños quemados. Los medicamentos más encontrados fueron paracetamol, morfina, ketamina, propofol, AINES y fentanil. Los profesionales de la salud deben reconocer el significado del dolor relacionado con los niños quemados y estar al día sobre las diversas opciones farmacológicas disponibles. Así, tener profundización sobre dosificación y vía de administración, así como el conocimiento con quemaduras pediátricas pueden romper barreras para beneficiar al paciente con el inicio precoz de la administración de analgésicos.

Biological effects of amniotic membrane on diabetic foot wounds: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: The amniotic membrane has biological properties that are beneficial to the wound healing process of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). Our aim is to analyse the scientific evidence found in literature on the use of the amniotic membrane to stimulate DFU healing. METHOD: A systematic review of amniotic membrane's influence was undertaken, using the search terms 'placenta' 'diabetic foot' 'amnion' and biological dressing', assessing the outcomes 'wound healing' and 'wound healing time', in DFU. Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, randomised controlled trials (RCT) were identified, and the risk of bias was analysed according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool. We conducted a meta-analysis of the two outcomes to evaluate the level of evidence. RESULTS: We identified six clinical trials, with a total of 331 patients. The most common risks of bias in the studies were selection, attrition, and detection biases. From the meta-analysis, the difference of the intervention group (amnion) in relation to the control group was statistically significant. We found that wound healing in the group treated with amniotic membrane occurs 2.32 times more often and is 32 days faster in comparison with the group that used conventional dressings. CONCLUSION: There is no statistical evidence to support the effectiveness of amniotic membrane in comparison with other conventional dressings. However, there is a clear tendency for the use of amniotic membrane treatment to result in a larger number of DFUs healing at a quicker rate.

Use of Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose/Collagen Matrix in Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetic wounds that do not heal completely usually exhibit inflammatory markers, increased protease activity, and reduced levels of growth factors and cell count. A systematic review was performed to determine whether there is enough evidence to support the use of an oxidized regenerated cellulose/collagen matrix (ORC+C) to treat diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). METHODS: Study authors analyzed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on ORC+C dressings for the treatment of DFUs. A literature search was conducted for all available reports of relevant studies published in journals indexed in PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO databases. There were no restrictions based on date of publication. A population-intervention-comparison-outcome framework was built on MeSH terms and keywords. Two independent researchers analyzed all articles for data collection and used the Cochrane Collaboration tool for risk-of-bias assessment. RESULTS: At first, 316 related studies were located in the databases. After evaluating these studies for methodological similarities, only 3 were considered eligible for the review. One RCT was considered at high risk of bias. Results from this meta-analysis of 2 studies showed no significant improvement in wound healing rates of DFUs when ORC+C was compared with standard wound care. CONCLUSIONS: Because of several methodology flaws in the reviewed studies, these results suggest that there is currently no research evidence to suggest that the use of ORC+C improves wound healing rates of DFUs. Additional research with high-quality RCTs focused on diabetic ulcers is necessary.

Assessment of health status of adolescent burn victims undergoing rehabilitation: a cross-sectional field study.

Teenagers may experience physiological and psychological changes when they suffer from a severe burn. The aim of this study was to assess the state of health of teenagers who were undergoing a rehabilitation process following a severe burn. A cross-sectional field study was carried out with 63 teenagers and young adults who had suffered burns. The tests applied were social, demographic, and clinical instruments. The specific tests included the Burn Specific Health Scale-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, and Functional Independence Measurement. The results were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance, variance analysis, and Cronbach's reliability analysis. The social and demographic analysis of the population has shown a prevalence of female (60.3%), single subjects (93.7%), and ages between 12 and 20 years (mean age of 15.95 years). The mean total body surface area burn was 23.84%, with accidents as the main causative factor (92.10%). More than half (52.4%) reported functional and aesthetic effects after the burn, with 81% concerned about the visible scar. Cronbach's reliability analysis has shown statistically confident results for all the instruments as applied. The multivariate analysis showed a correlation between the work domain and marital status, whereas there was no evidence to show a correlation between sex, age, physical or aesthetic sequelae or visibility of burns, and depression, self-esteem, functional independence, or current state of health. The results obtained prove the reliability of the instruments applied, making it possible to assess the state of teenagers and young adults health during the rehabilitation process.