OBJECTIVE To present some of our experience with Biobrane (a total of 703 patients in 7 years) in a range of uses in burn practice and to illustrate the caveats that we have found applicable in maintaining our success with this versatile material. METHODS Retrospective analysis of theatre records, medical notes, and photography database to categorize our experience with Biobrane. Thorough ass...

BACKGROUND This preliminary investigation attempted to determine the effectiveness of egg membranes as a new biological dressing to promote infection-free healing and provide pain relief over split-thickness skin graft (STSG) donor sites. METHODS Eighteen patients, with 28 STSG donor sites who were admitted to the LinKou Burn Center from August 1997 to July 1999, were selected for this trial....

In a general wound healing process, foreign bodies and tissue detritus have to be broken down and then a new tissue is produced. However, the new tissue formation sometimes fails to proceed under the impaired conditions such as burn injury and intractable skin ulcer. A major obstruction to wound healing is infection. Another obstruction to wound healing is deficiency of growth factors. The endo...

INTRODUCTION The ideal analgesic agent for burns wound dressings in paediatric patients would be one that is easy to administer, well tolerated, and produces rapid onset of analgesia with a short duration of action and minimal side-effects to allow rapid resumption of activities and oral intake. We compared our current treatment of oral morphine to intranasal fentanyl in an attempt to find an a...

BACKGROUND Ongoing rationing of healthcare threatens services that are well established, and cripples others that desperately require investment. Burn, for one, remains a neglected epidemic in South Africa (SA), despite the magnitude of the problem. OBJECTIVE To identify the prominent components contributing to the cost of hospital admission with paediatric burn injury. Determining the true c...

BACKGROUND Nanoemulsions are broadly antimicrobial oil-in-water emulsions containing nanometer-sized droplets stabilized with surfactants. We hypothesize that topical application of a nanoemulsion compound (NB-201) can attenuate burn wound infection. In addition to reducing infection, nanoemulsion therapy may modulate dermal inflammatory signaling and thereby lessen inflammation following therm...

The standard treatment of partial-thickness burns includes topical silver products such as silver sulfadiazine (SSD) cream and enclosed dressings including silver-impregnated foam (Mepilex Ag; Molnlycke Health Care, Gothenburg, Sweden) and silver-laden sheets (Aquacel Ag; ConvaTec, Skillman, NJ). The current state of health care is limited by resources, with an emphasis on evidence-based outcom...

OBJECTIVE To assess the beneficial effects of silver foam dressing on the healing of wounds with ulcers and infection control of burn patients. METHODS Eighty-four second-degree burn patients were selected and divided into a study group and a control group (n=42). After disinfection and cleaning, wound beds of the study group were covered with silver-containing soft-silicone foam dressing, an...