Effect of timing of tracheostomy on changes in bacterial colonisation of the lower respiratory tract in burned children.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to evaluate the impact of early and late tracheostomy on microbiological changes in the airways in severely burned children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Early tracheostomy is sometimes performed within 3 days after the start of mechanical ventilation regular microbiological surveillance of the respiratory tract was done in all patients. From each sputum, tracheobronchial aspirate and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), a microscopic slide was made and the material was seeded in a culture medium. The standard culture media used for the growth of respiratory pathogens are blood agar, McConkey agar, VL agar and chocolate agar. The obtained values were statistically analysed. RESULTS: In the observed period, a total of 68 children underwent mechanical ventilation in our department. A total of 31 (45.59%) children had undergone surgical tracheostomy (18 patients with early tracheostomy and 13 patients with late tracheostomy). The most common bacterium isolated from the lower respiratory tract in patients with early and late tracheostomy was Acinetobacter baumannii (31.53% resp. 44.30% of all bacterial strains). In patients with early tracheostomy, the ratio of G+/G- during the 6-7th day of mechanical ventilation was 1.29:1 and during the 8-10th day, 1:1.43. In patients with late tracheostomy the G+/G- ratio was 1:2.25 and during the 8-10th day, 1:2.25. There was not any statistically significant deviation in the G+/G- ratio in patients with early and late tracheostomy in any of the monitored periods. CONCLUSION: The main reasons for performing early tracheostomy are: extent, localisation and depth of the burn. Difficult weaning in an uncooperative patient, failure of extubation with subsequent reintubation and other complications may be an indication for late tracheostomy. The study confirms that the use of appropriately indicated early tracheostomy provides a microbiological benefit for burned children.

[Epidemiology of critical burns in southern Moravia]. / Epidemiologie kritických popálenin na jizní Morave

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to define the principal and additional characteristics of critical burns and to evaluate the effect of an increasing Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI) on mortality in burn patients admitted to the Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital in Brno. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective monocentric study included all patients older than 18 years with critical burns involving more than 40% of the total body surface area (TBSA) who were admitted to the Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital in Brno, in the period from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2010. The epidemiological data evaluated included: age, gender, size of burn injury, mechanism of injury, required surgical intervention, mortality, length of hospital stay and the presence of inhalation injury. The results were statistically analysed. RESULTS: A total of 2 479 adult patients were admitted to the Department in the period under study, and 112 (4.5%) of them had critical burns. In this patient group, the average age was 48.7 years, the average burned surface area was 62.8% TBSA, and the average length of hospital stay was 37.2 days. The male-to-female ratio was 2.39:1. Inhalation injury was diagnosed in 92 patients (82.1%). Of the 112 patients with burn injury, 59 died (52.7%). The lowest mortality rate was in the age category of 31 to 40 years (21.1%) and the highest rate in the patients aged over 71 years. No patient with the ABSI . 8 died while, amongst the patients with the ABSI .13, the mortality rate was 87.8%. DISCUSSION: No study dealing comprehensively with this topic in a patient group of this size has so far been published in the Czech Republic. Our results showed that the patients with critical burns accounted for about 5% of all patients with thermal trauma. The ABSI has proved to be a valuable and reliable predictor of survival in patients with critical burns. The extent of burned area and age were risk factors affecting mortality. On the other hand, the effect of inhalation injury on mortality, as a single risk factor, is disputable because this develops with an increasing burned surface area. CONCLUSIONS: The most important epidemiological data on patients with critical burns were evaluated. The study shows that although the number of patients annually admitted to hospital with severe burns is still high, it has nevertheless decreased recently.

The epidemiology of pediatric burns undergoing intensive care in Burn Centre Brno, Czech Republic, 1997-2009.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to determine the basic epidemiological characteristics of severely burned children who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery Faculty Hospital Brno, Czech Republic in the years 1997-2009. METHODS: We collected and evaluated epidemiological data such as age, sex, burn etiology, length of hospitalization, duration of the ICU stay, surgical or conservative therapeutic strategies, the use of mechanical ventilation and its duration, day and month of injury and the extent of burned area. RESULTS: In total 383 children (253 boys, 130 girls) aged 0-14 years, underwent intensive care for at least 48h. Male to female ratio was 1.95:1. The average range of burn area in the group was 16.43±12.86% TBSA (total body surface area). During the reporting period, 16 children were admitted with burns over 50% TBSA. 328 children suffered burns indoors, with 55 children being burned outdoors. Indoor/outdoor ratio was set at 5.96:1. The most frequent etiological agent was scalding (hot water, soup, coffee, oil, tea). The total number of scalded children in this group was 312 (81.46%). Mechanical ventilation was used in 96 cases (25.07% of all the admitted patients). The duration of mechanical ventilation in these patients was 8.03±5.67 days in average. The average length of stay in ICU was 10.71±10.92 days and total length of hospital stay was an average of 21.55±14.55 days. A total of 184 patients (48.04%) were treated surgically and therefore required necrectomy and skin grafting. The other 199 (51.96%) patients were treated conservatively. During the reporting period 3 children died (0.78%). CONCLUSION: In our report we identify basic epidemiological data defined in the aim of this study for burned children requiring intensive care.

Epidemiology of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis and vantilator-associated pneumonia in patients with inhalation injury at the Burn Centre in Brno (Czech Republic).

Aim. The aim of this work is to determine the incidence of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and to define the define the most important respiratory pathogens in patients with inhalation injury. Introduction. Infectious complications in severely burned patients present serious problems. Patients with inhalation injuries are exposed to greater risk owing to the possible development of infectious complications in the lower respiratory tract. VAP is the predominant cause of death in these patients. This is due to the increasing resistance of strains of Gram-negative bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Design. Retrospective, monocentric. Setting. A five-bed burn intensive care unit. Material and methods. Between 2004 and 2009, 348 adult patients were hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery, Brno University Hospital, Czech Republic. Of these, 127 (36.49%) were diagnosed by bronchoscopy as having inhalation injury. The prerequisite for inclusion in the cohort was an inhalation injury requiring artificial ventilation for at least 48 h. The lower airway microbiological condition was monitored regularly by sampling biological material for cultures (sputum, tracheobronchial aspirates, etc.). For the diagnosis of VAP and VAT we used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria and the Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score. Results. The average age of the 127 patients (31 women/96 men) included in the study was 38.4 yr (range, 21-69 yr) and the average total body surface area (TBSA) burned was 29.3% (range, 2-75%). The average length of hospital stay was 49.4 days (range, 4-150 days) and the duration of mechanical ventilation 8.7 days; 18 patients (14.2%) died. In patients with inhalation injury, 309 strains of bacteria were cultivated from the lower respiratory tract, of which 234 were Gram-negative. All of these bacterial strains were isolated in significant quantities for lower respiratory tract infection. The most common bacteria isolated from the lower respiratory tract was Klebsiella pneumoniae (78 times), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (49x), and Acinetobacter baumannii (28x). VAT was diagnosed in 109 patients (85.8%) in the cohort. The incidence of VAT was calculated to be 98.8 per 1000 days of mechanical ventilation. VAP was diagnosed in 34 patients in the cohort (26.8%). The incidence of VAP was calculated as being 30.8 cases per 1,000 days of mechanical ventilation. In eight patients (23.5%), VAP was diagnosed within 5 days of initiation of mechanical ventilation (early onset) and in 26 patients (76.5%) after a longer period (late onset). The most common aetiological agent of VAT and VAP was Klebsiella pneumoniae (respectively 41.3% and 35.3%). Conclusion. In this study we were able to determine the incidence of VAP and VAT in patients with inhalation injury. In spite of the advances in diagnostics and therapy, inhalation injury is still burdened with disappointingly high morbidity and mortality rates. For this reason, the treatment of VAP remains a major challenge for all physicians caring for patients with inhalation injury.

Prevalence and resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in severely burned patients: a 10-year retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Infection complications caused by gram-negative bacteria nowadays constitute the dominant mortality cause in severely burned patients. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most feared nosocomial pathogen among burn centers worldwide, with the highest mortality. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study involved adult patients hospitalized at the Intensive Care Unit at the Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Brno, between the years 2000 and 2009. These patients were hospitalized for thermal injuries. Retrospectively we have evaluated the extent of the burned areas, ages, depth of injury at admission and at discharge or in dissection (histology) and length of hospitalization on the Intensive Care Unit. By completing regular swabs we monitored and evaluated the microbiological situation not only at the burned areas but also in the lower respiratory system, in the urinary tract and in the blood stream. RESULTS: The study involved a total of 640 adults hospitalized at the Intensive Care Unit at the Department of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Brno, for burn trauma between the years 2000 and 2009. The average extent of the burned area in patients was 36.2% TBSA (2-97% TBSA), average age was 36.7% years (18-92 years), average length of hospitalization at the Intensive Care Unit was 27.1 days (1-151 days). We isolated a total of 2,958 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (including repeated isolation of pseudomonas strains in the same patients) in these patients. The most frequently found of these was Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the burned area (1,301 strains), from the lower respiratory system (651) and from the urinary tract (592 strains). During the monitored period the number of strains isolated in our patients increased (146 strains in 2000, 521 strains in 2009). Furthermore, we noticed increased resistance to all available antibiotics except Polymyxins. All of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains in the monitored years maintained 100% sensitivity to Colistin. Of the routinely used antibiotics Meropenem showed the greatest increase of resistance (in 2000 this comprised a total of 18% of the resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, and in 2009 58% of the strains). Ceftazidime shows similar results (in 2000 12%, in 2009 39% of resistant strains). Amikacin displayed a relatively good effect against pseudomonas infections; in 2009 we registered total of 34% of the resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to this aminoglycoside. In 2000 there were 13 multiresistant strains (i.e. 8.9%) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in 2009 the figure was 171 strains (i.e. 32.82%). CONCLUSION: In our study we point to the increasing trend not only in the prevalence but also in the resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. This limits our choices for suitable antibiotic therapy. This is why infection complications play such a significant role in morbidity and mortality in severely burned patients.

The importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the treatment of mutilating electrical injury: a case study.

Electrical burns are not ranked among the most frequent type of injuries, but they have the most devastating potential of all thermal injuries and often cause lifelong stigmatization. Those primarily affected are young males: work injuries predominate. An electrical burn is a specific nosological unit that has multiple acute and chronic abnormal manifestations. In this study we describe the case of a young man who suffered an electrical injury after contact with a high-voltage line (22,000 volts) while paragliding. This contact was followed by a 10 m fall. In our work we present the need for multidisciplinary cooperation along with the opportunities, problems and risks that accompany the treatment of this type of injury.