ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Burns are complex, difficult-to-treat wounds associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop and validate an illustrated guide to techniques of dressing application for use in the initial management of the patient with burn wounds. METHODS: The construction of the illustrated guide was based on a literature review conducted of publications between 2001 to 2017 in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scientific Electronic Library Online, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. No similar work was found in the literature. Standardized photographs were taken using a manikin to illustrate the step-by-step procedures. The content validity of the illustrated guide was assessed by a panel of 7 burn specialists through a questionnaire in the search for a consensus opinion according to the Delphi technique. The questionnaire assessed 3 main components: Objective, Structure and Presentation, and Relevance of the guide. RESULTS: The final version of the illustrated guide showed an excellent overall content validity index (CVI) of 0.99. The CVI was 1.0 for the component Objective, 0.98 for Structure and Presentation, and 1.0 for Relevance. The guide has 79 pages, 86 illustrations, and 10 chapters on techniques of dressing application for patients with burn wounds. Topics including material preparation, gowning and gloving procedures, and techniques of dressing application for different parts of the body were addressed. CONCLUSIONS: An illustrated guide for dressing application in burn wounds was developed and validated for content by an expert panel.
