scholarly journals A Review of Burn Patients Requiring Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation at a Burns Facility

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-300
Author(s):  
Stephen Frost ◽  
Liz Davies ◽  
Claire Porter ◽  
Avinash Deodhar ◽  
Reena Agarwal

Respiratory compromise is a recognised sequelae of major burn injuries, and in rare instances requires extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Over a ten-year period, our hospital trust, an ECMO centre and burns facility, had five major burn patients requiring ECMO, whose burn injuries would normally be managed at trusts with higher levels of burn care. Three patients (60%) survived to hospital discharge, one (20%) died at our trust, and one patient died after repatriation. All patients required regular, time-intensive dressing changes from our specialist nursing team, beyond their regular duties. This review presents these patients, as well as a review of the literature on the use of ECMO in burn injury patients. A formal review of the overlap between the networks that cater to ECMO and burn patients is recommended.

Author(s):  
Jack Rasmussen ◽  
Mete Erdogan ◽  
Osama Loubani ◽  
Robert S Green

Abstract Despite advances in burn care, mortality in adult patients with extensive burn injuries remains a concern, particularly in those who develop concurrent acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In cases of ARDS refractory to conventional treatments, venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) may represent a viable salvage therapy, even in the major burn population. We present the case of a 38-year-old man with full thickness burns to over 80% of his body, who developed severe ARDS 4 days postburn. After failing to respond to deep sedation, paralysis, and proning, ECMO therapy was initiated to maintain oxygenation and ventilation. Over the next 14 days, while the patient was treated with ECMO, he successfully underwent three major operations to debride and allograft approximately 65% of his body surface area, including one in the prone position. ECMO therapy was discontinued on postburn day 18, and the patient had his wounds reconstructed and survived his injuries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a burn patient with such severe burns requiring surgical intervention that has been treated with ECMO and survived, and the first case of a burn patient on ECMO having surgery in the prone position. They conclude this case serves as a “proof of concept” that ECMO is a potential treatment for appropriately selected major burn patients with ARDS who fail to respond to other therapies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kolawole Olubunmi Ogundipe ◽  
Innih Kadiri ◽  
Amarachukwu Chiduziem Etonyeaku ◽  
Tolulope Aduloju

Burn injuries come with enormous challenges and devastation to the victims. The consequences get worse when multiple members of a family are involved. Social supports are necessary, especially where health financing is mainly through out-of-pocket expenditure. The use of Medical Social Workers (MSW) in burn care in our region is limited, and their roles are poorly or inadequately reported. This study appraises the role of MSW in the multidisciplinary management of burn patients. We report the management of an impoverished family of five who sustained varying degrees of burn injuries, and the role MSW played in their care. Beyond being a routine discharge planner, the MSW provided social support, psychotherapy and rallied community support, which translated to an improved outcome for the patients. Involving MSW in burn care provides great benefit to patients. Burn surgeons are therefore encouraged to use the added value of MSW on their teams. Keywords: Burn, Injury, Medical social worker, Healthcare financing


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Corcione ◽  
Tommaso Lupia ◽  
Francesco G De Rosa ◽  

Abstract Burn damage can lead to a state of immune dysregulation that facilitates the development of infections in patients. The most deleterious impact of this dysfunction is the loss of the skin’s natural protective barrier. Furthermore, the risk of infection is exacerbated by protracted hospitalization, urinary catheters, endotracheal intubation, inhalation injury, arterial lines and central venous access, among other mainstays of burn care. Currently, infections comprise the leading cause of mortality after major burn injuries, which highlights the improvements observed over the last 50 years in the care provided to burn victims. The need to implement the empirical selection of antibiotic therapy to treat multidrug-resistant bacteria may concomitantly lead to an overall pervasiveness of difficult-to-treat pathogens in burn centres, as well as the propagation of antimicrobial resistance and the ultimate dysregulation of a healthy microbiome. While preliminary studies are examining the variability and evolution of human and mice microbiota, both during the early and late phase burn injury, one must consider that abnormal microbiome conditions could influence the systemic inflammatory response. A better understanding of the changes in the post-burn microbiome might be useful to interpret the provenance and subsequent development of infections, as well as to come up with inferences on the prognosis of burn patients. This review aims to summarise the current findings describing the microbiological changes in different organs and systems of burn patients and how these alterations affect the risks of infections, complications, and, ultimately, healing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Vitale Mendes ◽  
Cesar de Albuquerque Gallo ◽  
Bruno Adler Maccagnan Pinheiro Besen ◽  
Adriana Sayuri Hirota ◽  
Raquel de Oliveira Nardi ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shib Shankar Kuiri ◽  
Bikash Chandra Ghosh ◽  
Nilay Mandal ◽  
Mintu Mohan Nandi ◽  
Tusar Kanti Saradar ◽  
...  

Aims and Objectives: We conducted a retrospective analysis among 1984 burn patients to study the incidence, prevalence of burn injury, its various types and modes (actual event behind the burn injury), risk factors and to find out the preventive measures.Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was carried out among 1984 patients having burn injuries, admitted in a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal, India over a period of nine years. The sources of information were the admission registers and the patients' folders from the medical records department. The Ethical clearance was taken from the Institutional Ethical Committee. The information obtained included age, sex, whether accidental or suicidal, etiology of burn injury and particularly the mechanism of injury. Results: Females were mostly affected (83%) in comparison to males. Among the study population, most of the burn patients were in the age group of 21-30yrs i.e. 35.3%. The number of burn patients were less in number in the age group of 11-20yrs i.e. 7.3%. Most of the burn injuries (87%) were accidental. Suicidal burns occurred in 10% cases. Of which about 1/3rd of the cases were due to dowry related issues.  A significant number of teenagers also attempted suicides due to trivial reasons (e.g. failure in examination, quarrelling with parents). Gas oven related injuries occurred in 2.7% cases. Oil lamps (‘kupi’), candles and hurricane-lanterns, diyas were also responsible to some extent in rural India for flame burns(5%). Smoking related burn injuries occurred in 1.7% cases. Scald injuries occurred in 14% cases. Chemical injuries (0.3%) were due to spillage of unlabelled bottles of acid/alkali. Electrical burn injury occurred in 4.9% cases. Conclusion: Burn injury prevention is not easy, but to avoid the significant morbidity and mortality following injury we have to prevent it by any means. A coordinated and dedicated approach among social workers , medical and paramedical personnel, administrators can only minimize the incidence of burn.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.7(1) 2015 70-75


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S67-S67
Author(s):  
Tina L Palmieri ◽  
Kathleen S Romanowski ◽  
Soman Sen ◽  
David G Greenhalgh

Abstract Introduction Climate change, the encroachment of populations into wilderness, and carelessness have combined to increase the incidence of wildfire injuries. With the increased incidence has come an increase in the number of burn injuries. Prolonged extrication, delays in resuscitation, and the extreme fire and toxic air environment in a wildfire has the potential to cause more severe burn injury. The purpose of this study is to examine the demographics and outcomes of wildfire injuries and compare those outcomes to non-wildfire injuries. Methods Charts of patients admitted to a regional burn center during a massive wildfire in 2018 were reviewed for demographic, treatment, and outcome. We then obtained age, gender, and burn size matched controls from within 2 years of the incident, analyzed the same measures, and compared treatment and outcomes between the two groups. Results A total of 20 patients, 10 wildfire (WF) burns and 10 non-wildfire (NWF) burns, were included in the study. Age (59.6±7.8 WF vs. 59.4±7.4 years), total body surface area burn (TBSA) (14.9±4.7 WF vs. 17.2±0.9 NWF) and inhalation injury incidence (2 WF and 2 NWF) were similar between groups. Days on mechanical ventilation (24.3±19.4 WF vs. 9.4±9.8 NWF), length of stay (49.9±21.8 WF vs. 28.2±11.7 days) and ICU length of stay (43.0±25.6 WF vs 24.4±11.2 NWF) were higher in the WF group. WF patients required twice the number of operations. Mortality was similar in both groups (1 death/group). Conclusions Wildfire burn injuries, when compared to age, inhalation injury, and burn size matched controls, require more ventilatory support and have more operations. As a result, they have longer lengths of stay and have a prolonged ICU course. Burn centers should be prepared for the increased resource utilization that accompanies wildfire injuries. Applicability of Research to Practice All burn centers must be prepared for the possibility of wildfires and the increased resource utilzation that accompanies mass casualty events.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205951312095233
Author(s):  
Lincoln M Tracy ◽  
Yvonne Singer ◽  
Rebecca Schrale ◽  
Jennifer Gong ◽  
Anne Darton ◽  
...  

Introduction: The ageing global population presents a novel set of challenges for trauma systems. Less research has focused on the older adult population with burns and how they differ compared to younger patients. This study aimed to describe, and compare with younger peers, the number, causes and surgical management of older adults with burn injuries in Australia and New Zealand. Methods: The Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand was used to identify patients with burn injuries between 1 July 2009 and 31 December 2018. Temporal trends in incidence rates were evaluated and categorised by age at injury. Patient demographics, injury severity and event characteristics, surgical intervention and in-hospital outcomes were investigated. Results: There were 2394 burn-injured older adults admitted during the study period, accounting for 13.4% of adult admissions. Scalds were the most common cause of burn injury in older adults. The incidence of older adult burns increased by 2.96% each year (incidence rate ratio = 1.030, 95% confidence interval = 1.013–1.046, P < 0.001). Compared to their younger peers, a smaller proportion of older adult patients were taken to theatre for a surgical procedure, though a larger proportion of older adults received a skin graft. Discussion: Differences in patient and injury characteristics, surgical management and in-hospital outcomes were observed for older adults. These findings provide the Australian and New Zealand burn care community with a greater understanding of burn injury and their treatments in a unique group of patients who are at risk of poorer outcomes than younger people. Lay Summary The number and proportion of older persons in every country of the world is growing. This may create challenges for healthcare systems. While burn injuries are a unique subset of trauma that affect individuals of all ages, less is known about burns in older adults and how they differ from younger patients. We wanted to look at the number, type, management, and outcomes of burns in older adults in Australia and New Zealand. To do this, we used data from the Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand, or BRANZ. The BRANZ is a database that collects information on patients that present to Australian and New Zealand hospitals that have a specialist burns unit. Our research found that one in eight adult burns patients was over the age of 65, and that the rate of burn injuries in older adults has increased over the last decade. Older adult burns patients were most commonly affected by scalds after coming in contact with wet heat such as boiling liquids or steam. Fewer older adults went to theatre for an operation or surgical procedure compared to their younger counterparts. However, a larger proportion of older adults that went to theatre had a skin graft (where skin is removed from an uninjured part of the body and placed over the injured part). This research provides important information about a unique and growing group of patients to the local burn care community. It also highlights potential avenues for injury prevention initiatives.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S68-S68
Author(s):  
Isabel Bernal ◽  
Rosemary Paine ◽  
Damien W Carter ◽  
Carolyne Falank

Abstract Introduction As the population ages; burn centers, especially those with a large rural catchment, will be expected to care for older adults with complex medical co-morbidities. Recent work has shown that %TBSA at which 50% of patients would be expected to die (LD50) for elderly patients is up to 20% lower than non-elderly patients. However, the factors contributing to mortality are unclear. We undertook this study to characterize our experience with elderly burn patients in our rural state and to understand how mortality is affected by comorbid disease. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all burn patients ≥50 years old admitted to our burn center over a 5 year period between January 2014 and December 2018. We collected demographic and injury data including %TBSA, mechanism, inhalation injury status, discharge disposition, length of stay as well as complications including pneumonia, kidney injury, wound infection and graft loss. We calculated the modified Baux score, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and overall mortality for each patient. The %TBSA and CCI were correlated with complications and mortality using the Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. Results There were 243 patients (35%) who met inclusion criteria out of total of 688 burn admissions during that period. The median age was 60 years (mean 62.2, range: 50–95) and 72.4% were male. The median TBSA was 4% (mean: 8.2%, range: 0.5% - 55%). We found weak correlations between CCI and both pneumonia (R=0.177, p=0.005) and mortality (R=0.1297, p=0.0434). There was also a weak correlation between %TBSA and pneumonia (R=0.3302, p &lt; 0.001), kidney injury (R=0.205, p=0.001), wound infection (R=0.1295, p=0.045) and graft loss (R=0.2616, p&lt; 0.001). Interestingly, in the subgroup with &gt; 15% TBSA burns (n=35), there was no significant correlation with increased complications. For the entire cohort, the predicted mortality based on the mean modified Baux score was 16%. The actual observed mortality was 4.1%. Conclusions Our findings suggest that, in our center, CCI is not predictive of burn related complications or mortality and %TBSA is not predictive of complications or death. The observed to expected mortality ratio was remarkably low. Applicability of Research to Practice As we treat older burn patients, it is important to identify the individual patient factors and hospital specific burn care factors that may improve outcomes in the elderly population.


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