Shiow-Shuh Chuang

Use of free thin anterolateral thigh flaps combined with cervicoplasty for reconstruction of postburn anterior cervical contractures.

&NA; Free thin anterolateral thigh flaps combined with cervicoplasty were used in a series of seven patients undergoing reconstruction for previous burn injury from September of 2000 to May of 2001 at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. This method uses a suprafascial dissection technique to provide a thin flap to improve cervical contour. Neck contractures had resulted from flame burns in six patients and from a chemical burn in one patient. The mean age was 32.7 years (range, 22 to 45 years). The size of excised scar ranged from 10 × 2 cm to 26 × 5 cm (mean, 19.7 × 3.3 cm). The size of flaps ranged from 11 × 5 cm to 26 × 8 cm (mean, 21.3 × 6.5 cm). Average operative time was 6 hours. Average hospital stay was 10 days. All flaps survived, with one flap sustaining partial marginal loss. The donor site was closed primarily in five cases and by using a split‐thickness skin graft in two cases. At a mean follow‐up time of 5 months, the functional improvement was measured as follows: a mean increase in extension of 30 degrees (preoperatively, 95 degrees; postoperatively, 125 degrees), a mean increase in rotation of 18 degrees (preoperatively, 59 degrees; postoperatively, 77 degrees), and a mean increase in lateral flexion of 12.5 degrees (preoperatively, 26.5 degrees; postoperatively, 39 degrees). The average cervicomandibular angle was improved by 25 degrees (preoperatively, 145 degrees; postoperatively, 120 degrees). This series demonstrates that the use of free thin anterolateral thigh flaps combined with cervicoplasty provides a one‐stage reconstruction with a thin, pliable flap that achieves good cervical contour with low donor‐site morbidity.

Symptomatic tracheal stenosis in burns

Tracheal stenosis in burns is rare and usually results from prolonged intubation or tracheostomy. Inhalation injury itself has the potential risk of tracheal stenosis. We reviewed the records of 1878 burn patients during 1987 to 1995 and found seven with tracheal stenosis (0.37%) after an average of 4.4 years follow up. There were 4 males and 3 females with an average age of 27.3 years. The tracheal stenosis developed 1-22 months after burn (average 7 months). Five patients had their inhalation injury confirmed by bronchoscopic examination. The incidence of tracheal stenosis among inhalation injury patients was 5.49% (5/92). Six patients needed intubation in the initial stage either for respiratory distress or prophylaxis, with an average duration of 195.2 h. In addition to prolonged intubation, the presence of inhalation injury, repeated intubations and severe neck scar contractures are also contributors to tracheal stenosis in burns. We favor T-tube insertion as the first treatment choice; permanent tracheostomy was unsatisfactory in our study.

Use of the Scalp as a Donor Site for Large Burn Wound Coverage: Review of 150 Patients

Abstract. The characteristics of rapid wound healing and multiple harvest capacity make the scalp an important donor site when dealing with large and deep burn wounds. This paper reports the results of a retrospective analysis of 150 patients treated for large burn wounds. The findings indicated that bleeding during graft skin harvest could be limited to 50 ml by intradermal injection of epinephrine (1:2,000,000), high-concentration epinephrine-soaked gauze compression (1:20,000), and temporary porcine skin coverage. Use of a scalp graft also carried a low risk of complications, with only four (2.7%) major complications including three cases (2.0%) of visible alopecia and one case (0.7%) of hair transplantation. There were no hypertrophic scars, even in the patient who had the largest number (11) of repeat harvests.

Electric water heaters: a new hazard for pediatric burns

The electric water heater has recently become a popular household appliance replacing the hot water dispensing jug. This device provides hot water and potable cool water directly from the faucets thus removing the need to refill the container or boil water separately in a kettle. Along with the convenience of dispensing hot water immediately has come an increased incidence of pediatric burns. This paper presents a 6-year retrospective study of such pediatric scald burns from 1996 to 2001. Computer database records revealed that the incidence of pediatric scald burns caused by the electric water heater during the past 6 years was 6.4% (66/1028). The age of victims ranged 0-6 years (mean 1.5+/-1.1 years), most of the victims were in the 1-2-year-old group. In most common cases burn location was the trunk. The accidents often occurred during the cold months and in the living room of the house. From this retrospective study, it was seen that the etiology and incidence of scald burns among children have changed as people have modified their household practice for obtaining hot water in our country. This study aims to increase public awareness to the problem and suggest some prevention measures to reduce this type of scald injury.

Chimeric autologous costal cartilage graft to prevent warping.

Background: Carved autologous costal cartilage is widely used in different rhinoplasty procedures because of its availability and proven advantages. However, the usefulness of rib grafts is limited by warping postoperatively. The chimeric autologous costal cartilage graft is proposed. “Chimeric” means the combining of two different tissues (bone and cartilage in this case) to make a single dorsal onlay graft. Methods: From October of 2010 to August of 2013, 31 patients underwent rhinoplasty or nasal reconstruction with costal cartilage graft using the chimeric autologous costal graft method. There were 14 men and 17 women, with ages ranging from 20 to 66 years (average, 33 years). Of the 31 patients, there were 12 with congenital nasal deformities, six with previous nasal trauma, eight with aesthetic rhinoplasty (four with primary rhinoplasty and four with secondary rhinoplasty), and five with nasal deformities after tumor extirpation. Patients’ profiles were documented and photographed. The outcomes were assessed by three plastic surgeons. Results: Follow-up for all patients was 4 to 30 months (average, 14 months). No cartilage warping was noted during the follow-up period. Two patients suffered from minor infection 2 weeks postoperatively. The average operative time for carving cartilage was 10 minutes. The overall average time of making a chimeric autologous costal onlay graft added approximately 20 minutes to the original method. Conclusion: From the clinical observation of all patients during the follow-up period, the chimeric autologous costal cartilage graft was shown to be effective for preventing cartilage warping. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, IV.

Double free flaps for reconstruction of postburn anterior cervical contractures—use of perforator flaps from the lateral circumflex femoral system

Anterior cervical contracture causes considerable problems including restricted range of motion and poor appearance. The reconstructive methods (skin grafs, Z-plasties and local flaps, etc.) have different limitations to their clinical application, and even recontracture that needs repeated surgical release [1–3]. Free flaps have the benefits of replacement for contracture scars with soft, pliable tissue [4–6]. This report presents a case of postburn cervical contractures reconstructed with an anterolateral thigh (ALT) and a tensor fascia lata (TFL) cutaneous perforator flap simultaneously. The combined use of these two flaps provides (1) one-stage procedure; (2) a larger skin territory for reconstruction; (3) primary closure of donor sites; (4) soft, pliable and thin tissues for resurfacing burn contractures; and (5) good aesthetic and functional results.

Using acute kidney injury severity and scoring systems to predict outcome in patients with burn injury

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication of severe burn injury and is associated with mortality. The definition of AKI was modified by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes Group in 2012. So far, no study has compared the outcome accuracy of the new AKI staging guidelines with that of the complex score system. Hence, we compared the accuracy of these approaches in predicting mortality. METHODS This was a post hoc analysis of prospectively collected data from an intensive care burn unit in a tertiary care university hospital. Patients admitted to this unit from July 2004 to December 2006 were enrolled. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data and prognostic risk scores were used as predictors of mortality. RESULTS A total of 145 adult patients with a mean age of 41.9 years were studied. Thirty-five patients (24.1%) died during the hospital course. Among the prognostic risk models, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation III system exhibited the strongest discriminative power and the AKI staging system also predicted mortality well (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve: 0.889 vs. 0.835). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified total burn surface area, ventilator use, AKI, and toxic epidermal necrolysis as independent risk factors for mortality. CONCLUSION Our results revealed that AKI stage has considerable discriminative power for predicting mortality. Compared with other prognostic models, AKI stage is easier to use to assess outcome in patients with severe burn injury.

A Comparison of Gene Expression of Decorin and MMP13 in Hypertrophic Scars Treated With Calcium Channel Blocker, Steroid, and Interferon: A Human-Scar-Carrying Animal Model Study.

BACKGROUND The formation of hypertrophic scaring (HSc) is an abnormal wound-healing response. In a previous study, an animal model with human scar tissue implanted into nude mice (BALB/c) has been successfully established. The effects of verapamil as well as combination therapy with verapamil and kenacort have been studied and compared. OBJECTIVE To treat persistent hypertrophic scars, local injection of drugs composed of steroids, calcium channel blockers (CCBs), and interferon might be a good method. What is the best dose of the regimen and what are the mechanisms are also a worthwhile study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Scar specimens were harvested from patients with HSc or Keloid resulting from burn injury, and then implanted to BALB/c-nu nude mice for 4 weeks. Before implantation, the specimen was either injected with or without drugs such as steroids (kenacort), CCBs (verapamil), and interferons (INF&agr;2b), respectively. After the removal of implants, quantitative gene expressions of decorin and collagenase (MMP13) were measured using a real-time polymerase chain reaction to detect their mRNAs. Two way-ANOVA and Post Hoc were used for statistical analysis using the software SPSS 15.0. RESULTS All drug-treated groups increased the expressions of decorin and MMP13 in comparison with those in noninjected group (p < .001) in a dose-dependent manner. Comparing equal amounts of individual drugs, gene expression of decorin was increased with increasing injection amount, and the best result in low amount of injection (0.02 mL of each) was shown in the group injected with INF&agr;2b followed by kenacort and verapamil. However, the results were changed while injection amount was up to 0.04 mL and the strongest decorin gene expression was found in kenacort injection. Regarding MMP-13 expression, low-amount injection (0.02 mL) of INF&agr;2b has strongest gene expression followed by kenacort and verapamil, but in the large-amount regimes (0.04 mL), verapamil had strongest gene expression followed by INF&agr;2b and kenacort. CONCLUSION This study showed that the kenacort, verapamil, and INF&agr;2b all inhibited HSc in a dose-dependent manner through the evidence of gene expression of decorin and MMP13. In comparison with the injections between small amounts of drugs, INF&agr;2b potentiated the strongest decorin and MMP13 expression. On the contrary, among the large-amount injection regimes, kenacrot was more effective on decorin expression as verapamil to MMP13 expression. To decrease side effects from the drugs and produce promising results for the clinical practice, it is suggested to maintain the dose of INF&agr;2b along with an increased dose of verapamil for HSc improvement.

Finger ischemia secondary to the synergistic agonist effect of norepinephrine and ergonovine and in a burn patient

Ergonovine (Ergometrine) is an effective uterotonic agent used in the management of post-partum bleeding. It has been found to induce ischemia of the coronary artery as well [1,2]. Norepinephrine is used to treat hypotensive septic shock in large body surface area burns. Combined use of these drugs in the management of burn septicemic shock and post-partum bleeding can produce a synergistic agonist effect that could result to compromised peripheral circulation and subsequent finger ischemia.

Hyperphosphatemia is associated with high mortality in severe burns

Introduction Phosphate level is often deranged during acute illness, regardless of the presence of kidney injury or not. A few studies described that hypophosphatemia may associated with outcome in patients admitted to the burn unit, but the literatures for hyperphosphatemia is limited. Our study aims to evaluate if hyperphosphatemia, one of the sign of severe tissue damage or kidney injury, will associate with mortality of patients with severe burns. Materials and methods The study was a post hoc analysis of prospectively collected data from patients admitted to the burn unit between September 2006 and December 2011. Patients were stratified into normophosphatemic or hyperphosphatemic group by baseline plasma phosphate level. The primary endpoint is 90-day mortality. Results Total 301 patients were included (hyperphosphatemia: n = 52; normophosphatemia: n = 249). The hyperphosphatemic group had lower Glasgow Coma Scale, mean arterial blood pressure, hemoglobin level, albumin, and higher TBSA of burns, APACHE II score, ABSI score, Acute kidney injury (AKI), and creatinine. The 90-day mortality was higher in the hyperphosphatemic group than in the normal group (53.8% vs 18.1%, P < .001) and this difference was still significant when adjusting for several confounding factors (hazard ratio, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.17–3.59). Multivariable Cox analysis showed risk factors of mortality included TBSA of burns, hyperphosphatemia, reduced urine output, and APACHE II score. Conclusions Our study found in addition to TBSA of burns and inhalation injury, baseline hyperphosphatemia in patients with severe burns is also associated with higher mortality.