The efficacy and safety of adrenergic blockade post burn injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND The hypermetabolic state after severe burns is a major problem that can lead to several pathophysiologic changes and produce multiple sequelae. Adrenergic blockade has been widely used to reverse these changes and improve outcomes in burned patients but has not been rigorously evaluated. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the use of adrenergic blockade after burn injury

Effect of multiple physiotherapy sessions on functional outcomes in the initial postoperative period after primary total hip replacement: a randomized controlled trial

Objective To determine whether increasing physiotherapy input from once to twice per day will result in earlier achievement of functional milestones (ie, independence in mobility and transfers) and decreased length of stay (LOS) in patients undergoing a primary total hip replacement. Design Randomized controlled trial. Setting Metropolitan private hospital. Participants Patients (N=57) with primary total hip replacement were randomly assigned to the twice daily (treatment, n=30) and once daily (control, n=27) groups. Patients who chose to attend hydrotherapy were excluded from the randomization process; however, they gave consent for outcome measures to be collected for comparison with the randomized groups. Interventions The control group received usual care, and the treatment group received twice-daily physiotherapy from day 1 after surgery to discharge. Main Outcome Measures The Iowa Level of Assistance at postoperative days 3 and 6 and LOS. Results This study demonstrates that patients who received twice-daily land-based physiotherapy after primary total hip replacement attained earlier achievement of functional milestones than patients that received once-daily physiotherapy. A statistically significant (P=.041) but not clinically significant difference was evident in the Iowa Level of Assistance score at day 3. There was no difference between the groups in Iowa Level of Assistance measures on day 6 or on LOS. Conclusions Patients who received twice-daily physiotherapy showed a trend toward earlier achievement of functional milestones; however, this finding did not translate to decreased LOS

Analysis of falls within paediatric hospital and community healthcare settings

Purpose: To identify characteristics of paediatric falls within a healthcare setting. Design and methods: A retrospective analysis of falls occurring within inpatient, outpatient, emergency and community healthcare settings of children aged 0

Bathroom scald burns in Queensland Children

To evaluate the current characteristics of bathroom scald injuries in Queensland Children.Data was collected from patients who presented with a bathroom scald injury to the Stuart Pegg Paediatric Burns Centre at the Royal Children's Hospital and Lady Cilento Children's Hospital, Brisbane from January 2013 to December 2014.Bathroom scald burns represented 2.6% of total burns cases with an inpatient rate of 39%. The family home is the location of injury in 84% of cases and in 79% the patient was aged 2 years of age or younger. Total body surface area ranged from 0.5% to 20% with a median of 1.75% (IQR 0.63, 3.38%). In our study 8% of patients underwent grafting and 24% received follow up for scar management. Injuries occurred in rental properties in 47% of tempering valve survey respondents. The rate of installation of tempering valves was 23%.Bathroom scald burns continue to be over-represented in inpatient data. Tempering valves were not consistently installed after injury, this intervention would require further legislation to be an effective prevention strategy.This study provides important insights into paediatric bathroom scald injuries and will assist with the development of prevention strategies

Trauma in children due to wheeled recreational devices

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe trauma in children secondary to the use of wheeled recreational devices (WRDs).Methods: This study retrospectively described trauma secondary to use of WRDs sustained by children 16 years or younger over a period of 12 months at two tertiary paediatric hospitals in Brisbane, Queensland. Data were analysed from the Paediatric Trauma Registry at these two facilities. Data were also retrieved from The Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian to provide information regarding deaths in Queensland from the use of WRDs for the period January 2004 to September 2013. Outcome measures included age, gender, types of injuries, Injury Severity Scores, admission to Intensive Care, and length of hospital stay for all hospital admissions greater than 24 h.Results: A total number of 45 children were admitted with trauma relating to WRDs during the 12 months, representing 5.3% of all trauma admissions of greater than 24 h during this time period. Of these, 34 were male with a median age of 11.0 years (IQR = 9-13). Limbs accounted for the majority (54.5%) of injuries, with other common injuries being spine/cranial fractures (14.5%), lacerations (12.7%), internal organ injuries (9.1%), and intracranial bleeds (9.1%). There were six admissions to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and one death.Conclusions: WRDs contribute significantly to injuries sustained by children. A large proportion of these injuries may be preventable, suggesting that mandating the use of protective equipment in Queensland may be of great benefit

Efficacy and safety of normal saline instillation: A systematic review

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of the technique of instillation of normal saline prior to suction of airways in intubated patients. Data sources: Databases searched included: MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and Full text clinicians' health journals @ Ovid from the earliest time to March 2009. Citation tracking of relevant primary and review articles. Review methods: All randomised controlled trials, crossover trials, quasi- and full systematic reviews were screened. From 65 articles screened, 17 articles (two quasi-systematic reviews and 15 empirical studies) met the eligibility criteria and were included for data extraction. The outcomes in the reviewed studies included oxygenation, lung mechanics, sputum yield, dyspnoea, tube patency and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results: Studies were mainly of low methodological quality due to factors such as lack of assessor blinding and within-group-only statistics. Overall, there was a positive effect favouring the use of saline to increase sputum yield (d=0.50, 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.90). Due to heterogeneity of methodology, it was not possible to perform meta-analyses on haemodynamics, oxygenation, tube patency and ventilator-associated pneumonia. Overall, while a decrease was found in oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry (SpO) following instillation of normal saline compared with no saline, this was of limited clinical significance. Conclusions: The results of this review reflect the poor quality of available articles on instillation of normal saline prior to suction of artificial airways. There is little evidence of benefit but also minimal evidence of safety risks. Controlled trials of better quality and more clinically relevant outcomes need to be performed before this technique is either accepted or rejected

Three donor site dressings in pediatric split-thickness skin grafts: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

For children requiring split-thickness skin grafting for burn injury, the optimum donor site dressing is an ongoing subject of debate. The most common dressings in use, both regionally and worldwide, are calcium alginates. We will compare an alginate with two other dressings, all of which are in current use in the Pegg Leditschke Paediatric Burns Centre (PLPBC), to determine which dressing performs the best.This is a randomised, prospective single center parallel three-arm trial comparing three donor site wound (DSW) dressings: Algisite™ M, a calcium alginate dressing; Cuticerin™, a smooth acetate gauze impregnated with water-repellent ointment (petrolatum, paraffin and Eucerite®) and Sorbact®, a gauze mesh coated with a dialkylcarbamoyl chloride (DACC) and amorphous hydrogel. Primary outcomes are days to complete DSW healing, and pain. Previously validated measures will be used for all outcomes. Secondary outcomes are: itch; scar appearance at three, six and 12\ua0months; ease of dressing application and removal and dressing costs and utility. Results will be analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. Donor site thickness will be measured with a small biopsy from the center of the graft, to document the depth of the DSW across the groups.This study will provide comprehensive short- and long-term data on DSW dressings in pediatric split-thickness skin grafting. The best-performing dressing will become the preferred dressing for the PLPBC. We will provide rigorous data against which other dressings can be compared in future, recognising that alginates are the most common DSW dressing currently in use. Our study design replicates a real-world scenario in order to identify clinically significant differences between the three dressings.This trial was prospectively registered on 8 April 2014 with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (identifier: ACTRN12614000380695 )

Prospective randomised controlled trial of Algisite™ M, Cuticerin™, and Sorbact® as donor site dressings in paediatric split-thickness skin grafts

This is a parallel three-arm prospective randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing Algisite™ M, Cuticerin™, and Sorbact® as donor site dressings in paediatric split-thickness skin grafts (STSG). All three were in current use within the Pegg Leditschke Children's Burn centre (PLCBC), the largest paediatric burns centre in Queensland, Australia. Our objective was to find the best performing dressing, following on from previous trials designed to rationalise dressings for the burn wound itself.All children for STSG, with thigh donor sites, were considered for enrolment in the trial. Primary outcome measures were days to re-epithelialisation, and pain. Secondary measures were cost, itch, and scarring at 3 and 6\ua0months. Patients and parents were blinded to group assignment. Blinding of assessors was possible with the dressing , with partial blinding following first dressing change. Blinded photographic assessments of re-epithelialisation were used. Scar assessment was blinded. Covariates for analysis were sex, age, and graft thickness (as measured from a central biopsy).There were 101 patients randomised to the Algisite™ M (33), Cuticerin™ (32), and Sorbact® (36) arms between April 2015 and July 2016. All were analysed for time to re-epithelialisation. Pain scores were not available for all time points in all patients. There were no significant differences between the three arms regarding pain, or time to re-epithelialisation. There were no significant differences for the secondary outcomes of itch, scarring, or cost. Regression analyses demonstrated faster re-epithelialisation in younger patients and decreased donor site scarring at 3 and 6 months with thinner STSG. There were no adverse effects noted.There are no data supporting a preference for one trial dressing over the others, in donor site wounds\ua0(DSW) in children. Thinner skin grafts lead to less donor site scarring in children. Younger patients have faster donor site wound healing.Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ACTRN12614000380695).Royal Children's Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/14/QRCH/36).University of Queensland Medical Research Ethics Committee (#2014000447)