Single-Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Applied on Various Wound Types: An Interventional Case Series.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a single-use negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) system achieves individualized goals of therapy when used to treat patients with a variety of wound types.

Design: Multiple case series.

Subjects And Setting: The same comprised 25 participants; their mean age was 51.

The role of personal-use negative pressure wound therapy with enhanced functionality in achieving wound-related treatment goals: a small prospective study.

Background: NPWT is widely used to manage hard-to-heal wounds, and many different devices are available. Personal-use NPWT systems are becoming more popular, although current options have limited functionality.

Purpose: The primary objective was to determine acceptable progress of wounds towards a predefined goal of therapy for a variety of open wounds being treated with a novel NPWT personal-use system with enhanced functionality.

Application and Management of Cultured Epidermal Autografts on Posterior Burns-A 5-Year, Multicenter, Retrospective Review of Outcomes.

Severe burns on the posterior trunk present a treatment challenge in that these surfaces bear the major portion of body weight, with shearing forces exerted when changing the patient from supine to prone position. In their high-volume center at Burn and Reconstructive Centers of America, the authors developed protocols for use of cultured epidermal autografts (CEAs) for coverage of large burns, including those specific to posterior burns. This paper describes techniques and approaches, including milestone timelines, to treat and manage these patients.

Somatic Marker Production Deficits do not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making.

In moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding-specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e.

The Impact of Callous-Unemotional Traits and Externalizing Tendencies on Neural Responsivity to Reward and Punishment in Healthy Adolescents.

Both externalizing behavior and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in youth are precursors to later criminal offending in adulthood. It is posited that disruptions in reward and punishment processes may engender problematic behavior, such that CU traits and externalizing behavior may be linked to a dominant reward response style (e.g.

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Activity Predicts Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors in Non-referred Boys.

Atypical respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a biomarker of emotion dysregulation, is associated with both externalizing and internalizing behaviors. In addition, social adversity and gender may moderate this association. In this study, we investigated if RSA (both resting RSA and RSA reactivity in an emotion regulation task) predicts externalizing and/or internalizing behaviors and the extent to which social adversity moderates this relationship.

Social Adversity and Antisocial Behavior: Mediating Effects of Autonomic Nervous System Activity.

The display of antisocial behaviors in children and adolescents has been of interest to criminologists and developmental psychologists for years. Exposure to social adversity is a well-documented predictor of antisocial behavior. Additionally, measures of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, including heart rate variability (HRV), pre-ejection period (PEP), and heart rate, have been associated with antisocial behaviors including rule-breaking and aggression.

Urban Telemedicine: The Applicability of Teleburns in the Rehabilitative Phase.

Telemedicine has been successfully used in many areas of medicine, including triage and evaluation of the acute burn patient. The utility of telemedicine during the rehabilitative phase of burn care has yet to be evaluated; therefore, we expanded our telemedicine program to link our burn center with a rehabilitation facility. The goal of this project was to demonstrate cost-effective improvements in the transition and quality of care.

Back Grafting the Split-Thickness Skin Graft Donor Site.

Split-thickness skin grafting is a useful method of wound repair in burn and reconstructive operations. However, skin grafts require a donor site injury that creates a secondary wound at risk for delayed wound healing. Though in young healthy patients such donor sites have minimal risk, patients with risk factors for delayed wound healing are more challenging.

The Use of CO2 Fractional Photothermolysis for the Treatment of Burn Scars.

A recent advancement in the treatment of burn scars has been the use of the carbon dioxide (CO2) laser to perform fractional photothermolysis. In this analysis, we describe our results and patient-reported outcomes with the use of fractional CO2 laser for the treatment of burn-related scarring. We performed a retrospective study of all patients who underwent CO2 laser procedures for treatment of symptomatic burn scars and skin grafts at one accredited regional burn center.

Is Real-Time Feedback of Burn-Specific Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Clinical Settings Practical and Useful? A Pilot Study Implementing the Young Adult Burn Outcome Questionnaire.

Long-term follow-up care of survivors after burn injuries can potentially be improved by the application of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). PROMs can inform clinical decision-making and foster communication between the patient and provider. There are no previous reports using real-time, burn-specific PROMs in clinical practice to track and benchmark burn recovery over time.

Raman spectroscopy for label-free identification of calciphylaxis.

Calciphylaxis is a painful, debilitating, and premorbid condition, which presents as calcified vasculature and soft tissues. Traditional diagnosis of calciphylaxis lesions requires an invasive biopsy, which is destructive, time consuming, and often leads to exacerbation of the condition and infection. Furthermore, it is difficult to find small calcifications within a large wound bed.

Engineered composite tissue as a bioartificial limb graft.

The loss of an extremity is a disastrous injury with tremendous impact on a patient's life. Current mechanical prostheses are technically highly sophisticated, but only partially replace physiologic function and aesthetic appearance. As a biologic alternative, approximately 70 patients have undergone allogeneic hand transplantation to date worldwide.

Hemopexin in severe inflammation and infection: mouse models and human diseases.

Introduction: Cell-free plasma hemoglobin is associated with poor outcome in patients with sepsis. Extracellular hemoglobin and secondarily released heme amplify inflammation in the presence of microbial TLR ligands and/or endogenous mediators. Hemopexin, a plasma protein that binds heme with extraordinary affinity, blocks these effects and has been proposed as a possible treatment approach to decrease inflammation in critically ill patients.

Mitral valve repair via right thoracotomy for multidrug resistant pseudomonal endocarditis in a burn patient: case report and review of the literature.

Diagnosis and management of infectious endocarditis are particularly challenging in patients with severe burns. Cases requiring operative intervention are likely to have higher complication rates as a result of poor wound healing, recurrent bacteremia secondary to burn wound manipulation, and sequelae of anticoagulation in patients who require repeated reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. Few case reports exist describing mitral valve replacement for infectious endocarditis in burn patients.

The emerging role of tissue plasminogen activator in the management of severe frostbite.

This article presents a small case series demonstrating clinical success with thrombolytic agents for severe frostbite injury to the lower extremities. The authors report three patients with severe frostbite injuries to their distal lower extremities who were managed with urgent interventional radiology and intra-arterial tissue plasminogen activator infusion according to a prespecified protocol. Limbs and digits were successfully salvaged and patients returned to normal activity within 2 weeks.

Spontaneous neutrophil migration patterns during sepsis after major burns.

Finely tuned to respond quickly to infections, neutrophils have amazing abilities to migrate fast and efficiently towards sites of infection and inflammation. Although neutrophils ability to migrate is perturbed in patients after major burns, no correlations have yet been demonstrated between altered migration and higher rate of infections and sepsis in these patients when compared to healthy individuals. To probe if such correlations exist, we designed microfluidic devices to quantify the neutrophil migration phenotype with high precision.

Discrepancy in Initial Pediatric Burn Estimates and Its Impact on Fluid Resuscitation.

One of the fundamental aspects of initial burn care is the ability to accurately measure the TBSA of injured tissue. Discrepancies between initial estimates of burn size and actual TBSA (determined at the burn unit) have long been reported. These inconsistencies have the potential for unnecessary patient transfer and inappropriate fluid administration which may result in morbidity.

Burn intensive care.

As a result of continuous development in the treatment of burns, the LD50 (the burn size lethal to 50% of the population) for thermal injuries has risen from 42% total body surface area (TBSA) during the 1940s and 1950s to more than 90% TBSA for young thermally injured patients. This vast improvement in survival is due to simultaneous developments in critical care, advancements in resuscitation, control of infection through early excision, and pharmacologic support of the hypermetabolic response to burns. This article reviews these recent advances and how they influence modern intensive care of burns.

Benchmarking outcomes in the critically injured burn patient.

Objective: To determine and compare outcomes with accepted benchmarks in burn care at 6 academic burn centers.

Background: Since the 1960s, US morbidity and mortality rates have declined tremendously for burn patients, likely related to improvements in surgical and critical care treatment. We describe the baseline patient characteristics and well-defined outcomes for major burn injuries.

Skin necrosis as a complication of therapeutic hypothermia.

This case report describes a complication caused by cooling pads used for therapeutic hypothermic resuscitation. The authors hope to highlight and emphasize the importance of a thorough evaluation of all skin surfaces that are in direct contact with such cooling pads. Skin injury from the cooling pads used for therapeutic hypothermia should be recognized as a potential complication of treatment.