Reliable scar scoring system to assess photographs of burn patients.

BACKGROUND: Several scar-scoring scales exist to clinically monitor burn scar development and maturation. Although scoring scars through direct clinical examination is ideal, scars must sometimes be scored from photographs. No scar scale currently exists for the latter purpose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We modified a previously described scar scale (Yeong et al., J Burn Care Rehabil 1997) and tested the reliability of this new scale in assessing burn scars from photographs. The new scale consisted of three parameters as follows: scar height, surface appearance, and color mismatch. Each parameter was assigned a score of 1 (best) to 4 (worst), generating a total score of 3-12. Five physicians with burns training scored 120 representative photographs using the original and modified scales. Reliability was analyzed using coefficient of agreement, Cronbach alpha, intraclass correlation coefficient, variance, and coefficient of variance. Analysis of variance was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Color mismatch and scar height scores were validated by analyzing actual height and color differences. RESULTS: The intraclass correlation coefficient, the coefficient of agreement, and Cronbach alpha were higher for the modified scale than those of the original scale. The original scale produced more variance than that in the modified scale. Subanalysis demonstrated that, for all categories, the modified scale had greater correlation and reliability than the original scale. The correlation between color mismatch scores and actual color differences was 0.84 and between scar height scores and actual height was 0.81. CONCLUSIONS: The modified scar scale is a simple, reliable, and useful scale for evaluating photographs of burn patients.

Nephrilin peptide modulates a neuroimmune stress response in rodent models of burn trauma and sepsis.

Sepsis occurs three times more often in burns than in other types of trauma, suggesting an overlap or synergy between underlying immune mechanisms in burn trauma and sepsis. Nephrilin peptide, a designed inhibitor of mTORC2, has previously been shown to modulate a neuroimmune stress response in rodent models of xenobiotic and metabolic stress. Here we investigate the effect of nephrilin peptide administration in different rodent models of burn trauma and sepsis. In a rat scald burn model, daily subcutaneous bolus injection of 4 mg/kg nephrilin significantly reduced the elevation of kidney tissue substance P, S100A9 gene expression, PMN infiltration and plasma inflammatory markers in the acute phase, while suppressing plasma CCL2 and insulin C-peptide, kidney p66shc-S36 phosphorylation and PKC-beta and CGRP in dorsal root ganglia at 14 days (chronic phase). In the mouse cecal ligation and puncture model of sepsis, nephrilin fully protected mice from mortality between surgery and day 7, compared to 67% mortality in saline-treated animals, while significantly reducing elevated CCL2 in plasma. mTORC2 may modulate important neuroimmune responses in both burn trauma and sepsis.

Long-term propranolol use in severely burned pediatric patients: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of propranolol given for 1 year on cardiac function, resting energy expenditure, and body composition in a prospective, randomized, single-center, controlled study in pediatric patients with large burns. BACKGROUND: Severe burns trigger a hypermetabolic response that persists for up to 2 years postburn. Propranolol given for 1 month postburn blunts this response. Whether propranolol administration for 1 year after injury provides a continued benefit is currently unclear. METHODS: One-hundred seventy-nine pediatric patients with more than 30% total body surface area burns were randomized to control (n = 89) or 4 mg/kg/d propranolol (n = 90) for 12 months postburn. Changes in resting energy expenditure, cardiac function, and body composition were measured acutely at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months postburn. Statistical analyses included techniques that adjusted for non-normality, repeated-measures, and regression analyses. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Long-term propranolol treatment significantly reduced the percentage of the predicted heart rate and percentage of the predicted resting energy expenditure, decreased accumulation of central mass and central fat, prevented bone loss, and improved lean body mass accretion. There were very few adverse effects from the dose of propranolol used. CONCLUSIONS: Propranolol treatment for 12 months after thermal injury, ameliorates the hyperdynamic, hypermetabolic, hypercatabolic, and osteopenic responses in pediatric patients. This study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00675714.

Proteomics improves the prediction of burns mortality: results from regression spline modeling.

Prediction of mortality in severely burned patients remains unreliable. Although clinical covariates and plasma protein abundance have been used with varying degrees of success, the triad of burn size, inhalation injury, and age remains the most reliable predictor. We investigated the effect of combining proteomics variables with these three clinical covariates on prediction of mortality in burned children. Serum samples were collected from 330 burned children (burns covering >25% of the total body surface area) between admission and the time of the first operation for clinical chemistry analyses and proteomic assays of cytokines. Principal component analysis revealed that serum protein abundance and the clinical covariates each provided independent information regarding patient survival. To determine whether combining proteomics with clinical variables improves prediction of patient mortality, we used multivariate adaptive regression splines, because the relationships between analytes and mortality were not linear. Combining these factors increased overall outcome prediction accuracy from 52% to 81% and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve from 0.82 to 0.95. Thus, the predictive accuracy of burns mortality is substantially improved by combining protein abundance information with clinical covariates in a multivariate adaptive regression splines classifier, a model currently being validated in a prospective study.

Variables in right iliac fossa anatomy and their relevance to appendicectomy: improving knowledge and practices.

The anatomy of the right iliac fossa was reappraised with the intention of improving, open appendicectomy. The surface anatomy was studied on volunteers and the internal topography was examined during the operation of appendicectomy. Our findings vary slightly from prevailing knowledge which is mostly based on cadaver anatomy. Our findings suggest that McBurney's point is very close to the rectus sheath in some individuals and in most subjects it does not overly base of appendix. Surgical teaching through most of the 20th century stressed safety and recommended large incisions with generous exposure, allowing surgeons to operate yet not appreciate these variables. An attempt is made to provide a precise account of the variables in right iliac fossa anatomy to help surgeons operate using smaller, minimally invasive incisions with the inevitable reduced exposure of local anatomy. The proximity of the base of the appendix to the ileocaecal junction raises concern that burial of the appendicular stump might distort local anatomy.