Pneumonia in Severe Burn Patients

Modern treatment of burns has led to a significant reduction in mortality in patients with burns whose injuries were fatal several years ago. However, along with improved survival, new problems arose in the treatment of burn patients. Systemic inflammatory response, capillary leak, sepsis top the list of the most common problems in both adults and children with severe thermal injury. Currently, new strategies are being developed and studied in the treatment of this category of patients. One of the ways to improve the results of treatment of patients with severe burn injury is to prescribe corticosteroids, both in the stage of burn shock and in the development of septic complications. Do corticosteroids reduce mortality and improve recovery in burn patients? The discussion about this has been going on for many years, but the opinion about their effectiveness remains controversial. An analysis of the literature shows that corticosteroids can play a significant role in the treatment of patients with severe burn injury and can be successfully used at any stage of a burn disease. The effect of reducing capillary leakage, increasing myocardial contractility, antiemetic, membrane-stabilizing effect of corticosteroids will be useful in the stage of burn shock. The anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory effect of corticosteroids will play a role in any stage of a burn disease. With the aim of preventing and treating sepsis, corticosteroids may be useful in the stage of toxemia, septicotoxemia. It is also necessary to remember about adrenal insufficiency, which develops in burn patients. The article analyzes the literature, substantiates the use of corticosteroids in patients with severe burn injury in different periods of a burn disease.

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Effect of high-dose vitamin C therapy on severe burn patients: a nationwide cohort study

Critical Care ◽

10.1186/s13054-019-2693-1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mikio Nakajima ◽

Morita Kojiro ◽

Shotaro Aso ◽

Hiroki Matsui ◽

Kiyohide Fushimi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Propensity Score ◽

Vitamin C ◽

Confidence Interval ◽

Hospital Mortality ◽

Control Group ◽

High Dose ◽

Burn Patients ◽

Severe Burn ◽

Severe Burns ◽

High Dose Vitamin

Abstract Background Vitamin C is a well-documented antioxidant that reduces oxidative stress and fluid infusion in high doses; however, the association between high-dose vitamin C and reduced mortality remains unclear. This study evaluates the effect of high-dose vitamin C in severe burn patients under two varying thresholds. Methods We enrolled adult patients with severe burns (burn index ≥ 15) who were registered in the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination national inpatient database from 2010 to 2016. Propensity score matching was performed between patients who received high-dose vitamin C within 1 day of admission (vitamin C group) and those who did not (control group). High-dose vitamin C was defined as a dosage in excess of 10 g or 24 g within 2 days of admission. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Results Eligible patients (n = 2713) were categorized into the vitamin C group (n = 157) or control group (n = 2556). After 1:4 propensity score matching, we compared 157 and 628 patients who were administered high-dose vitamin C (> 10-g threshold) and controls, respectively. Under this particular threshold, high-dose vitamin C therapy was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality (risk ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.66–0.95; p = 0.006). In contrast, in-hospital mortality did not differ between the control and high-dose vitamin C group under the > 24-g threshold (risk ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.68–1.02; p = 0.068). Conclusions High-dose vitamin C therapy was associated with reduced mortality in patients with severe burns when used under a minimum threshold of 10 g within the first 2 days of admission. While “high-dose” vitamin C therapy lacks a universal definition, the present study reveals that different “high-dose” regimens may yield improved outcomes.

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The predictive value of serum neopterin for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in severe burn patients

Pteridines ◽

10.1515/pteridines-2018-0019 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 196-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wei Xiong ◽

Jun Ouyang ◽

Hai Ci ◽

Wenping Jiang ◽

Wei Han ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organ Dysfunction ◽

Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome ◽

Roc Curve ◽

Predictive Value ◽

Multiple Organ ◽

Burn Patients ◽

Multiple Organ Dysfunction ◽

Severe Burn ◽

Serum Neopterin ◽

Neopterin Level

AbstractObjective To investigate the predictive value of serum neopterin for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in severe burn patients. Methods Seventy-six severe burn patients with burns covering a total body surface area (TBSA) above 70% were included in this study. Of the 76 patients, 29 cases developed MODS (MODS group) and the remaining 47 subjects did not (non-MODS group). From the MODS group, 12 patients died (Death group) and 17 patients survived (Survive group). The serum level of neopterin in the MODS and non-MODS groups were examined by radioimmunoassay on following 1, 3 , 7 , 14 , 21 and 28 post-burn days (PBDs). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyse the predictive value of serum neopterin for MODS and death. Results The serum neopterin level in the MODS group was significantly higher than that of non-MODS group between 3~28 PBDs (p<0.001). However, the serum neopterin levels between the MODS and non-MODS groups following 1 PBD were not statistically significant (p>0.05). The best diagnostic performance of serum neopterin for MODS occurred 14 PBDs with the prediction sensitivity and specificity of 75.86% (56.46%~89.70%) and 85.11% (71.69%~93.80%) respectively. However, serum neopterin levels had no clinical value in predicting the death of MODS patients. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.72 (0.58~0.85), 0.81 (0.71~0.92) and 0.83 (0.72~0.94) for serum neopterin as biomarker in the prediction of MODS after 3, 7 and 14 PBDs, respectively. The AUCs were 0.50 (0.27~0.73), 0.53 (0.30~0.76) and 0.56 (0.33~0.79) for serum neopterin as biomarker in prediction of death for MODS patients after 3, 7 and 14 PBDs, respectively. Conclusion The persistent and significant increase of serum neopterin level is closely related to the development of MODS in patients with severe burns. Serum neopterin is therefore a promising serological marker for MODS early diagnosis, but has little efficacy in the prediction of the likelihood of death in severe burn patients with MODS.

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