Differences in burn wound size estimation between points of referral and the burn unit: experience at a major burn center in southwestern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Accurate burn wound size estimation is important for resuscitation and subsequent management. It is also important for the development of referral guidelines in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: To establish whether a significant discrepancy exists in burn size estimation between referral centers and burn units. METHODS: A retrospective review of burn patients managed at the burn unit of a premier tertiary hospital in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria, between January 1, 2016, and October 31, 2019 was conducted. Patients' demographic and other characteristics, inclusive of TBSA estimation from point of referral and the burn unit, were retrieved and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 96 burn injury records were found for the study period, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1. Thirty-five records (36.5%) included no burn size estimation by the referring physician. There was a statistically significant difference in TBSA estimation between referring physicians and burn unit physicians (P = .015). Burn wounds were more likely to be overestimated than underestimated (P = .016). Overestimation is more likely with minor burns and in pediatric patients. Underestimation was more likely in adults. CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference in burn size estimation between burn unit physicians and referring physicians. This finding underscores the need for continuous education on burn estimation to aid proper referral and management.

Current Trend in the Epidemiology of Thermal Burn Injury at a Tertiary Hospital in South Western Nigeria.

Worldwide, thermal burn is the leading etiological type of burn injury accounting for 86% of burn injuries requiring admissions. Flame, Scald, and contact burn are the leading causes of thermal burn. Changes in the sociodemographic characteristics of societies have led to alterations in the epidemiology of burn. An understanding of such changes in the epidemiology of burn is essential in formulating and executing adequate burn prevention programs. We sought to establish the current trend in the etiology, gender distribution, age, occurrence of inhalation injury, burn surface area, burn depth, and mortality rate of thermal burns at Ibadan. This was a retrospective study carried out between January 2013 and December 2022. Thermal burns constitute 92% of burn injuries. The male-to-female ratio was 1.4:1. There were 265 (45%) patients in the pediatric age group and 323 adults (55% of the patients). The proportion of flame, scald, and contact burns were 378 (58%), 203 (32%), and 14 (2%), respectively. Flame burns resulting from liquified petroleum gas (LPG) explosion show a rising trend, with a decline in flame burns from kerosene (P < .001). One hundred and ninety (32%) patients had inhalation injury. The overall mortality was 19% (N = 114). Kerosene flame, 38% (17 of 45 patients), and LPG, 32% (41 of 130 patients), were the most lethal causes of flame injuries (P < .043). The study shows the increasing contribution of LPG to the etiology of thermal burn injuries. Burn prevention programs should target safe use of LPG stoves and cylinders.

Changing Epidemiology and Outcome of Pediatric Thermal Burn Injury in South Western Nigeria.

The pediatric age group has been noted to be particularly vulnerable to burn injuries. Burn is the fifth most common cause of childhood injuries. Nigeria has a very young population with a median age of 18.1 years. Scald is the most common form of burn injuries in this age group globally; however, previous reports from our institution found flame to be the most common form of burn in pediatric age. The most recent report from 13 years ago still maintained flame as the most common cause of pediatric burn injury. This study was carried out to determine the changes in epidemiology and outcome of pediatric thermal burn injury. This was a retrospective study carried out between January 2013 and December 2022. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences software version 23. The significance was set at a P-value of .05. Two hundred and sixty-five children presented with thermal burn with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1. 63.4% occurred in children 0-5 years. Scald (59.6%) was the most common cause of injury. Most flame injuries in females were due to liquified petroleum gas cookstove explosion, while petrol explosion was the most common cause in males (P ≤ .001). There is a yearly increase in burn depth (P = .009). Most inhalation injuries occurred in those aged 11-16 years (P = .006). Mortality rate was 10.2%, with total body surface area burned (P ≤ .001), burn depth (P ≤ .001), and inhalation injury (P ≤ .001) associated with increasing mortality. Scald is now the most common cause of thermal burn in our institution, with a remarkable reduction in mortality rate.

Plasma Zinc Levels in Patients with Chronic Leg Ulcers at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Chronic leg ulcers are defects in the skin below the level of knee persisting for more than six weeks and shows no tendency to heal after three or more months. Zinc is a necessary component of several DNA & RNA polymerases and transferases essential for cell proliferation. Zinc deficiency is known to retard wound healing by preventing cellular mitosis and disturbance of fibroblast function and collagen synthesis. This study compares zinc levels in patients with chronic leg ulcers with apparently healthy individuals. METHODS: Five milliliters of venous blood samples was taken from twelve patients with chronic leg ulcers. Five milliliters of venous blood samples was also taken from a control group, who do not have chronic leg ulcers, but are matched with the cases in age (± 5 yr), sex, socioeconomic status and body mass index (± 3 kg/m2). Plasma zinc levels was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Principal exposure include the socio-demographic characteristics of patients, duration of symptoms before presentation, signs of ulcer-site, number, size, depth, base, edge, presence of discharge, enlarged lymph nodes and local neurovascular integrity. The outcome variables include plasma levels of biochemical markers measured -Zinc, serum albumin, total protein. RESULTS: The plasma zinc levels was significantly lower (P<0.01) in patients with chronic leg ulcer (92.808±16.689 µg/dl) as compared with control subjects (109.413 ± 9.304 µg/dl). There was no statistical difference in albumin and protein levels in both groups. CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic leg ulcers have significantly lower plasma zinc levels than apparently healthy individuals.

Glycerolised Skin Allografts for Extensive Burns in Low- and Middle-income Countries.

Introduction: There has been a significant improvement in the outcome of treatment of large surface area burns in developed countries. A major contributory factor is an early excision and skin grafting of burn wounds. The initial coverage of large surface area deep burn wounds requires the use of temporary skin substitutes such as allografts due to limited skin autografts. Cadaveric skin allografts are the commonest source of skin allografts in use; however, there may be religious, cultural, cost, or other factors mitigating its availability and routine use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Human skin allografts may be used fresh or stored in tissue banks to ensure its ready availability. The purpose of this review is to promote glycerolised skin allografts as a means of skin preservation in low-resource countries above other modalities cryopreservation due to its cost advantages and relative ease of operation. Materials and Methods: A literature search for articles related to human skin allograft use in burn care, skin banks, and glycerolised skin allografts in LMICs was done using PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases. The key words used were 'allograft' and 'burn' with a filter in the search for human studies. The relevant references in the articles obtained were also searched for and included in the review. Results: Sixty-three journal articles were reviewed for contents in line with the objectives of this study. Conclusion: Glycerolised skin graft is a viable option for coverage of extensive burns in LMICs.

Pattern of congenital hand anomalies at a tertiary plastic surgery service in South-Western Nigeria: A 10-year, cross-sectional retrospective review.

CONTEXT: Although congenital hand anomalies are among the more common musculoskeletal anomalies worldwide, we do not know its prevalence in our practice. AIMS: The aim of the study was to determine the pattern of congenital hand anomalies presenting to our tertiary plastic surgery outpatient service in South-Western Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional retrospective analysis of outpatient cases of congenital hand anomalies presenting over a 10-year period. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using frequencies, Student's t-test and Chi-square as appropriate. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. The statistical significance value was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-two cases were identified. The highest number of cases was seen in the year 2012, 23 patients (19.3%). There was a male preponderance of 66 patients (55.1%). Thirty-two patients (26.2%) presented as neonates and 36 (29.5%) as infants. Bilateral anomalies were seen in 67 patients (54.9%). The most common anomaly was failure of differentiation, 88 patients (72.1%) followed by duplication, 26 patients (21.3%). Syndactyly with 43 patients (35.2%) was the most common anomaly under failure of differentiation. No significant associations were found between the type of anomaly and gender or laterality. CONCLUSIONS: Syndactyly was the most common congenital hand anomaly in this study. There was a preponderance of bilateral involvement in both syndactyly and polydactyly.

The reverse sural artery flap for the reconstruction of distal third of the leg and foot.

Soft tissue defects around the distal third of the leg and the foot present a major reconstructive challenge. There is limited expertise with free tissue transfers in many developing countries, necessitating consideration of other options for the closure of such defects. The versatility and reliability of sural artery flap have made it an emerging popular option for the reconstruction of such defects. Twenty patients comprising of 13 males and 7 females with soft tissue defects of the lower third of the leg and foot requiring soft tissue cover were treated between January 2006 and December 2010. The age range was 7-58 years with a mean age of 30 years. Nineteen (95%) of the defects were post-traumatic while one (5%) was post-infective. All the defects were covered with reversed sural artery flaps, which were raised on the posterior aspect of the junction of the upper and middle third of the leg. The smallest flap was 4 × 4 cm(2) while the largest measured 20 × 12 cm(2). The donor defect was closed directly in 7 (35%) patients, while split skin graft was applied in the remaining 13 (65%) patients. There was satisfactory flap healing in 17 patients (85%), while 3 patients (15%) had complete flap necrosis. Two of these patients had significant comorbidities of haemoglobinopathy and poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. Sural artery flap remains a viable option for the reconstruction of soft tissue defects of the distal third of the leg and foot. Caution should, however, be exercised in patients with some significant systemic diseases.

Pattern of presentation of pressure ulcers in traumatic spinal cord injured patients in University College Hospital, Ibadan.

The neurosurgery division in University College Hospital (U.C.H.) admits approximately one traumatic spinal cord injured (SCI) patient per week, most of whom stay a minimum of 42 days on admission. A common complication in these patients is the development of pressure ulcers, which contributes to a longer hospital stay and increased hospital expenses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of presentation of pressure ulcers in patients on admission and to propose policies or protocols to reduce the incidence. It is a prospective study of traumatic SCI patients managed on the neurosurgery ward from January 2003 to June 2004. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics. Sixty-seven patients were studied. The average hospital stay was 73 days. Thirteen (20%) of the patients were admitted with pressure ulcers, 32 (47·7%) developed it after admission. As much as 87·5% of pressure ulcers seen in the course of this study which occurred on admission in U.C.H. was in the first week of admission, 6·25% in the second week and the remaining 6·25% in the third week. Pressure ulcers were distributed as follows; 69% (42) in the sacral region, 18% (11) trochanteric, 5% (3) scalp, 1·5% (1) ankle, 1·5% (1) ischial tuberosity, the remaining 5% in other sites. Preventive measures for pressure ulcers consisted of basic skin care, pressure dispersion using fenestrated foams and alternating weight-bearing sites by regular turning. Pressure ulcers are commonest in the sacral and gluteal regions and tend to occur within the first week of admission in the neurosurgical wards.