The mortality of burn patients remains high in spite of the advances made in treating initial burn shock, controlling burn wound infection, and providing nutritional support. Smoke inhalation is recognized as a strong determinant of morbidity and mortality in burn patients, and most burn patients die because of associated inhalation injury. There are many reports on this combined injury (cutane...

Surgical intervention of second degree burns is often delayed because of the difficulty in visual diagnosis, which increases the risk of scarring and infection. Non-invasive metrics have shown promise in accurately assessing burn depth. Here, we examine the use of spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) and laser speckle imaging (LSI) for predicting burn depth. Contact burn wounds of increasing...

The use of sulfomethate sodium colistin for the treatment of infections caused by multiple drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative microorganisms were studied in a burn unit to evaluate the safety of this drug. A prospective chart review of pediatric patients treated with intravenous colistin in a tertiary burn unit between January 2005 and December 2006 was performed. Forty-five courses of intraven...

BACKGROUND The cause of death in burn patients after 48 hours of hospitalization has been reported to be bacterial infections. Recently, due to the compounds accelerating the healing process and the intense reduction of treatment side effects, medicinal plants are used to cure burn wound infections. This study aims to investigate the medicinal effect of the ethanolic extract of Scrophularia st...

Results from the studies discussed in this article suggest that alcohol (EtOH) intoxication is a major public health problem. While the effects of injury and EtOH intoxication independent of each other have been studied in detail, only few studies have evaluated the effect of a combined insult of EtOH intoxication and burn injury on host defense. An analysis of the studies conducted in the clin...

The present prospective study showed that incidence of systemic infection in severe burn patients was 30.9%. Toxic shock and multiple organ failure (MOF) developed in all patients with uncontrolled systemic infection. Both morbidity and mortality of MOF were 76.5%. In the infection group, plasma TXB(2) and TXB(2)/6-keto-PGF(1alpha) ratio increased markedly. Their changes were closely correlated...

The first aid for burns is to run cold water over the burn for 20 minutes. This is effective for up to three hours after the injury. Assess the affected body surface area using the rule of nines. Consult a burn unit if more than 5% of the total body surface area is burnt in a child or if more than 10% in an adult. Extensive or deep burns and burns to special areas, such as the hands, should be ...

BACKGROUND Developments in critical care and surgical approaches to treating burn wounds, together with newer antimicrobial treatments, have significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality rates associated with this injury. METHODS Review of the pertinent English-language literature. RESULTS Several resistant organisms have emerged as the maleficent cause of invasive infection in burn pat...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa remains a significant pathogen in burn-wound infection, its pathogenicity being associated with the production of a cocktail of virulence determinants which is regulated by a population-density-dependent mechanism termed quorum sensing. Quorum sensing is effected through the production and binding of signalling molecules. Here we present a mathematical model for the early...