Silver sulfadiazine has been used as topical medication in the treatment of partial-thickness burns or secondary degree burns for many years. Pain during daily wound cleansing is the main problem. Urgotul SSD, a hydrocolloid dressing with silver sulfadiazine (SSD) has been reported to reduce infection and exhibit antimicrobial activity in burn wounds. The purpose of the present study was to com...

Infection is the leading cause of death in severely burned patients that survive the acute phase of injury. Neutrophils are the first line of defense against infections, but hospitalized burn patients frequently cannot mount an appropriate innate response to infection. Thus, immune therapeutic approaches aimed at improving neutrophil functions after burn injury may be beneficial. Prophylactic t...

BACKGROUND Longer survival in burn patients has resulted in more infectious complications, typically with Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Staphylococcus aureus. Although Streptococcus pneumoniae infections are common in the community and can cause nosocomial infections, the incidence and risk factors for pneumococcal infections in burn patients is unc...

Burn injury disrupts the mechanical and biological barrier that the skin presents against infection by symbionts like the Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacteria. A combination of local factors, antimicrobial peptides, and resident effector cells form the initial response to mechanical injury of the skin. This activity is followed by an inflammatory response that includes influx of pha...

BACKGROUND Burn wound infection remains the principal cause of death in burn patients. Efficacy of honey and aloe vera gel was evaluated in the treatment of burn wound infection induced with Klebsiella pneumoniae B5055 and their efficacy was compared with an isolated and well-characterized Klebsiella specific phage Kpn5. METHODOLOGY A full thickness burn wound was induced in mice and infected...

BACKGROUND Burn injury initiates an acute inflammatory response that subsequently drives wound repair. However, acute disruption to the immune response is also common, leading to susceptibility to sepsis and increased morbidity and mortality. Despite increased understanding of the impact of burn injury on the immune system in the acute phase, little is known about long-term consequences of burn...

BACKGROUND Acticoat (Smith & Nephew, Hull, UK) is a silver-coated dressing reported to reduce infection and exhibit antimicrobial activity in wounds. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to compare the efficacy ofacticoat and 1% silver sulfadiazine (1% AgSD) for treatment of partial thickness burn wounds. MATERIAL AND METHOD The authors reviewed 50 patients who had partial thickne...

Ninety-seven of 763 patients admitted to a burn center during a 3-year period had histologically confirmed bacterial or fungal burn wound invasion. Nine of these 97 patients survived and 88 died. Burn wound infection was the principal cause of death in 57 patients and was diagnosed perimortem in an additional 31 patients but was not judged to be the primary cause of death. Pseudomonas aeruginos...

Necrotizing fasciitis is a rapidly progressive soft-tissue infection associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Necrotizing fasciitis is similar to invasive burn wound infection in that diagnosis requires histologic examination of affected tissue and treatment requires aggressive surgical debridement followed by skin autograft. Transfer to a burn center facilitates the management of n...

Figure 1. Burn wound on post-operative day three after resurfacing with allograft. DESCRIPTION A 54-year-old man sustained third-degree burns to 50% total body surface area. He was transferred to our facility in septic shock on day five after injury. Broad-spectrum antibiotics, burn excision, and resurfacing with allograft were initiated. Two weeks later, a new wound infection was identified (F...