Review Article Diabetes mellitus and burns. Part II-outcomes from burn injuries and future directions

Abstract: Diabetes mellitus is an increasingly prevalent comorbidity in patients presenting to burn facilities. Diabetic patients tend to be older and present in a delayed manner with deeper injuries predominantly affecting the lower limb. Morbidity from burns is higher in this cohort including a longer length of hospital stay, greater need for surgical interventions and increased rate of infective complications. Nevertheless, there seems to be little effect of diabetes on associated mortality. The second part of this review article concentrates on the epidemiological profile of diabetic burn patients and the effect of the disease on morbidity and mortality. In addition, we present a review of therapeutic adjuncts, which may hold promise for the future management of this cohort of burn patients

Isotopic Split-skin Graft for Resurfacing of Deliberate Self-harm Scars

Summary:. We present a novel surgical approach for the revision of deliberate self-harm scars. The isotopic skin graft technique employs the harvest of a thin split-skin graft from the affected area, excision and closure of wide dermal scars with replacement of the graft back onto the harvest site. We present the sequential steps of the surgical technique and a case series of 2 patients treated with our novel approach

Review of therapeutic agents for burns pruritus and protocols for management in adult and paediatric patients using the GRADE classification

To review the current evidence on therapeutic agents for burns pruritus and use the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) classification to propose therapeutic protocols for adult and paediatric patients. All published interventions for burns pruritus were analysed by a multidisciplinary panel of burns specialists following the GRADE classification to rate individual agents. Following the collation of results and panel discussion, consensus protocols are presented. Twenty-three studies appraising therapeutic agents in the burns literature were identified. The majority of these studies (16 out of 23) are of an observational nature, making an evidence-based approach to defining optimal therapy not feasible. Our multidisciplinary approach employing the GRADE classification recommends the use of antihistamines (cetirizine and cimetidine) and gabapentin as the first-line pharmacological agents for both adult and paediatric patients. Ondansetron and loratadine are the second-line medications in our protocols. We additionally recommend a variety of non-pharmacological adjuncts for the perusal of clinicians in order to maximise symptomatic relief in patients troubled with postburn itch. Most studies in the subject area lack sufficient statistical power to dictate a ‘gold standard’ treatment agent for burns itch. We encourage clinicians to employ the GRADE system in order to delineate the most appropriate therapeutic approach for burns pruritus until further research elucidates the most efficacious interventions. This widely adopted classification empowers burns clinicians to tailor therapeutic regimens according to current evidence, patient values, risks and resource considerations in different medical environments