Journal of Burn Care & Research最新文献

Return to work (RTW) after burn injury is dependent on many variables, including type and location of burn injury, access to care, and pre-injury mental and physical health. Noting that prior studies were limited by small sample sizes, we aimed to use a large database to explore the associations between hand burn severity, functional hand outcomes, and RTW post-injury. Data from a multicenter longitudinal study were analyzed. Adults with burn injuries were classified into 6 groups ranking in severity of hand injury: (0) no hand burns, (1) single hand burn no grafting, (2) bilateral hand burn no grafting, (3) single hand burn requiring grafting, (4) bilateral hand burn requiring unilateral graft, (5) bilateral hand burn requiring bilateral grafts. Grafting was used as a proxy for burn severity. Self-reported employment status, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Upper Extremity (UE) scores and reported request for work accommodations were collected at discharge, 6-, 12-, and 24-months post-injury. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc Tukey Test were completed to examine differences in outcomes by hand injury severity. A total of 4,621 participants met inclusion criteria. Group 5, those with most severe burns, had significantly longer RTW times than Groups 0-3 (p< 0.005). Group 5's (bilateral burn/unilateral graft) average RTW was greater, however not significantly, compared to group 4. At 6 months, the mean PROMIS UE scores for grafted groups (Group 3, 40.6; Group 5, 35.4) were significantly worse than non-grafted groups (Group 1, 46.8; Group 2, 45.0; (p< 0.0001). At 12 and 24 months, mean PROMIS UE scores were worse for grafted groups, though differences were no longer significant compared to non-grafted groups. At every time point, the majority of respondents did not request accommodations for their injuries from their employers, regardless of severity. Burn severity plays a significant role in both RTW and hand function for participants with hand burns. Additionally, the lack of correlation between burn severity and request for work accommodations hints at the baseline vulnerability of these populations. These findings suggest a need for systematic improvements in the way these patients are cared for and re-integrated into the workforce.

Conservative management for hypertrophic scars (HSc) and scar contractures is of utmost importance to optimally reintegrate burn survivors into society. Many conservative treatment interventions have been described in the literature for the management of HSc. Recent advancements in the literature pertaining to post-burn scarring and HSc formation, have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms that support or refute the use of common rehabilitation treatment modalities after burn injury. This is particularly relevant for recent advancements in the fields of mechanotransduction and neurogenic inflammation resulting in the need for rehabilitation clinicians to reflect upon commonly employed treatment interventions. The aim of this review article is to summarize and clinically apply the evidence that supports or refutes the use of common conservative treatment interventions for scar management employed after burn injury. The following treatments are discussed and mechanotransduction and neurogenic inflammation concepts are highlighted: 1) edema management (compression, positioning/elevation, pumping exercises, retrograde massage, manual edema mobilization), 2) pressure therapy (including custom fabricated pressure garments, inserts, face masks, and other low-load long duration orthotic devices), 3) gels or gel sheets, 4) combined pressure therapy and gels, 5) serial casting, 6) scar massage, and 7) passive stretching. This review supports the following statements: 1) Compression for edema reduction should be initiated 48-72 hrs post-injury and continued for wounds that require longer than 21 days to heal until scar maturation; 2) Elevation, pumping exercises and retrograde massage/MEM should be used in combination with other edema management techniques; 3) Custom fabricated pressure garments should be applied once the edema is stabilized and adequate healing has occurred. Garments should be monitored on a regular basis to ensure that optional pressure, >15 mm Hg, is maintained, adding inserts when necessary. The wearing time should be >16 hrs/day; 4) Gels for post-burn scar management should extend beyond the scar; 5) Serial casting should be applied when contractures interfere with function; 6) Forceful scar massage should be avoided early in the wound healing process or when the scar is inflamed or breaks down; 7) Other treatment modalities should be prioritized over passive stretching for scar management.

We performed a needs assessment to determine the essential elements for a curriculum teaching burn care during Large Scale Combat Operations against peer/near-peer adversaries within multi-domain contested combat environments. Virtual and face-to-face site visit meetings were conducted with 20 stakeholders at 3 levels: 1) Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in military burn casualty care at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), the Joint Trauma System (JTS), and the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence (US Army MedCOE) in Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) - Fort Sam Houston, TX; 2) Course Directors, Instructors, Curriculum Innovators and Writers for the Combat Paramedic Branch and the Critical Care Flight Paramedic Program (CCFPP) at JBSA; and 3) regulatory administrators providing education, research and IRB administration for USAISR and US Army MEDCOE. The identified terminal learning objectives consisted of training in: burn casualty monitoring and principles of burn wound care according to available resources; best practices during PCC for pain, nutrition, and infection control; specific management of inhalation, chemical, radiation, electrical, pediatric, and mass casualty burn injuries; and procedural skill training for patient decontamination, debridement, dressings, and escharotomy. Additionally, needs were identified for novel technology that provides asynchronous individual learning opportunities using interactive role play simulations, immersive simulation, or virtual reality simulation as well as hands-on procedure simulators. Stakeholder engagement resulted in identification of sixteen terminal learning objectives that were subsequently used as the basis for a military curriculum we are calling the "Burns for Providers Program" (BP2).

Microstomia and orofacial contractures continue to garner interest regarding the effectiveness of treatment methodologies utilized to impact functional change. Oral splints are an accepted tool in the management of microstomia. However, the concepts of which oral splints to use, timing of initiation, and duration of treatment have not gained a consensus. This article reviews approaches to oral splinting and an alternative intraoral approach using splints designed to provide a graded, low load, multidirectional, and prolonged stretch specifically in facial burn survivors including those with mature scars. Two participants participated in a trial using oral splints placed inside the mouth at established contracture points. Participants were requested to use the splints for 1 h twice daily. Participants were photographed weekly producing 9 facial expressions, and distance between 13 facial landmarks was measured to evaluate change in tissue length. Numerical changes observed from beginning to end of the trial indicate positive and negative alterations, signifying lengthening or shortening of tissue. Negative changes denote reduction in distance between endpoints, while positive changes signify an increase. Participants verbalized functional improvements in oral motor and psychosocial function posttreatment. To date, oral splints can be custom fabricated for each individual patient. However, few oral splints are created to provide multidirectional stretch focusing on problem areas across the mid and lower face. The intraoral splints and regimen described here have the capability of providing a stretching intervention that could be applicable in various stages of burn recovery.

Complex ethical considerations can arise when patients with severe, persistent mental illness (SPMI) present with critical illness resulting from self-injury. This article presents 2 clinical cases in which a patient with SPMI was admitted with severe injuries following self-inflicted burns, with a substantial impact on their anticipated quality of life and challenges directing their medical care. In both cases, the medical teams held discussions with surrogate decision-makers in order to evaluate the patient's minimal acceptable quality of life and make medical decisions that best reflected the patient's voice and goals. These cases underscore the importance of advance care planning in SPMI, particularly the appointment of a surrogate decision-maker, and highlight the moral distress that can arise among surgical teams and trainees while caring for patients with illness resulting from self-harm. This article offers a framework for approaching decision-making in critical illness resulting from self-harm for patients with SPMI.

In 2018, the institutional burn resuscitation guideline was updated to remove the use of high-dose ascorbic acid (HDAA) therapy, to lower 24-hour resuscitation fluid estimations from 4 to 2 mL/kg/TBSA, and to optimize guidance around appropriate colloid resuscitation. This retrospective study compared the incidence of a composite safety outcome (acute kidney injury, or intra-abdominal hypertension requiring intervention) between the pre-guideline update to post-guideline update. Secondarily, 24-hour resuscitation volumes, hourly urine output, vasopressor use, and mechanical ventilation duration were compared as well. The composite safety outcome was similar between the 2 groups (40% vs 29%; P = .27), but the post-group showed significantly lower 24-hour resuscitation volumes (3.74 vs 2.94 mL/kg/TBSA; P < .01), as well as lower urine output (1.26 vs 0.75 mL/kg/h; P < .01). There was no difference between the groups with respect to vasopressor use, mechanical ventilation duration, or mortality. This study suggests that a simplified resuscitation protocol without HDAA, combined with a lower starting fluid rate, led to significantly lower 24-hour resuscitation volumes without an increase in adverse safety events.

Vancomycin is a glycopeptide antibiotic that requires close therapeutic monitoring. Prolonged exposure to elevated concentrations increases risk for serious adverse effects such as nephrotoxicity. However, subtherapeutic concentrations may lead to bacterial resistance and clinical failure or death. The most recent Infectious Diseases Society of America publication regarding therapeutic monitoring of vancomycin recommends using area under the curve (AUC)-based monitoring to maximize clinical success. Despite the guideline recommendation for AUC-guided dosing, many institutions still use trough-only monitoring in their practices, including those caring for patients with acute burn injuries. Following burn injury, patients are at a higher risk for infections, multiorgan failure, and pharmacokinetic alterations. The primary objective of this multicenter retrospective study is to determine optimal therapeutic monitoring of vancomycin by comparing clinical success between AUC and trough-based monitoring in patients with burns. MONITOR was a multicenter, retrospective study of patients with thermal or inhalation injury admitted to one of 13 burn centers from January 1, 2017 to August 31, 2022 who received vancomycin. Demographic and clinical course data, including acute kidney injury (AKI) incidence and clinical success, were obtained. Patients were evaluated for clinical success and grouped according to method of monitoring and adjusting doses: AUC vs trough-based monitoring. Clinical success was a composite definition and lack of meeting any 1 of 5 criteria: (1) persistent infection, (2) relapse, (3) antibiotic failure (clinical worsening), (4) AKI, and (5) death. A total of 517 vancomycin courses were assessed from 485 patients. There was no difference in the rate of clinical success between AUC monitored and the trough-only monitored groups. Incidence of AKI was higher in the trough-only group; however, it was not statistically significant after controlling for renal function on admission, past medical history of chronic kidney disease, and concomitant nephrotoxins.