Exploring reliability of scar rating scales using photographs of burns from children aged up to 15 years.

Assessing burn scars from photographs is a common practice given the growing trend to support health service delivery via electronic media (eg, email, videoconferencing). Scar rating scales, originally designed for in-person assessment, have been used to rate scars from photographic images. Evidence for the reliability of this practice is lacking.

Cica-Care gel sheeting in the management of hypertrophic scarring.

A prospective, controlled clinical trial was undertaken to assess the efficacy and safety of two types of silicone gel, Silastic Gel Sheeting (SGS) and Cica-Care (CC), in the management of hypertrophic scars. Forty-two patients were randomly assigned to SGS and CC groups and their hypertrophic scars were divided into treated and control areas. Extensometric measurements were made at monthly intervals for 6 months and significant improvement of the treated areas relative to the control areas was observed.

Acute fluoride poisoning after ingestion of sodium fluoride tablets.

Between 1978 and 1983, at least 20 children with fluoride poisoning were admitted to two major children's hospitals in Brisbane. Data on telephone calls received by Poisons Information Centres in Australia about fluoride toxicity show that Brisbane, the water supply of which is not fluoridated, received approximately twice as many calls per head of population as were received in Sydney and Melbourne. Concern is also expressed at the standard of packaging of fluoride tablets currently marketed in Australia.

Single dose trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole treatment of symptomatic urinary infection.

Seventy-nine children with symptoms of urinary tract infections were randomly allocated to treatment with a single dose or a 7-day course of trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole. Of the 42 patients (39 girls, 3 boys) who fulfilled the criteria for the trial, 23 were given a single-dose regimen and 19 of them a 7-day regimen. Both groups of patients had sterile urine cultures 2 days after starting treatment.