Burn wound dressing with human amniotic membrane. (57/65)

The use of amniotic membrane as a biological dressing for thermal injury is simple and cheap and has been found to be superior to allograft and xenograft. The membrane prevents heat and water loss from the wound surface and acts as a barrier against bacterial contamination, thus aiding the healing process and reducing morbidity. Another clinically significant and important property of the membrane is its ability to offer marked relief from pain. Over a period of 30 months amniotic membrane was used to treat 15 cases of burn in a small hospital, with uniformly satisfactory results. The practical aspects of this method of treatment can easily be adopted by any hospital regardless of its available facilities.  (+info)

A temporary biological dressing in the treatment of varicose ulcers and skin defects. (58/65)

Corethium 2 has been known to be a valuable biological dressing which encourages re-epithelization in cases of tissue loss, especially in varicose ulcers. It ensures a superior quality of healed tissue even in difficult chronic cases. It also reduces the overall treatment time and can be used as an out-patient dressing.  (+info)

Fundamentals of acute burn care and physical therapy management. (59/65)

The purpose of this paper is to discuss general treatment guidelines for treating patients with acute burns and to review pathophysiology of acute burn injuries. I will discuss skin composition briefly, give a review of acute burn pathophysiology and medical treatment, outline the psychological factors physical therapists should consider when working with these patients, and discuss physical therapy for the patient with acute burns. Physical therapy for patients with burns has become a specialty as knowledge of burn injuries increases. I have attempted to review physical therapy burn knowledge for inexperienced clinicians beginning to treat patients with acute burns.  (+info)

Human amniotic membrane: a versatile wound dressing. (60/65)

Human amniotic membrane proved to be a versatile and useful temporary biologic dressing in studies involving 120 patients. Wounds, both traumatic and nontraumatic in origin, responded to a protocol that allowed coverage of tissues as diverse as exposed bowel, pleura, pericardium, blood vessels, tendon, nerve and bone. Wounds unresponsive to usual therapeutic measures responded to membrane application. Ease of availability, negligible cost and facilitated wound healing make this temporary biologic dressing generally superior to either cadaver skin allograft or pigskin xenograft. Human amniotic membrane dressings are therefore a useful adjunct in the care of the complicated wound.  (+info)

Teratological studies on collagen wound dressing (CAS) in mice. (61/65)

We subcutaneously injected collagen wound dressing (CAS) extracts equivalent to the area covering human body surface by 35 and 70%, respectively, into mouse dams from days 6 to 15 of pregnancy. No toxicity was observed in dams and no external, skeletal and visceral anomalies related to CAS treatment were observed in fetuses. It is, therefore, concluded that CAS extracts produces no teratogenesis after subcutaneous injection during organogenesis in mice.  (+info)

Acute and subacute toxicity studies on collagen wound dressing (CAS) in mice and rats. (62/65)

Single administration of collagen wound dressing (CAS) made from bovine derm in the form of finely ground powders was given to mice and rats via i.p., s.c. and p.o. routes and via i.v. route in the form of physiological saline extracts and it was continuously injected into mice for 28 days via s.c. route to study its acute and subacute toxicity. Examinations were made of on general conditions, body weight, food and water consumption, hematology, serum biochemistry, organ weight, and gross and microscopic findings. Results showed no marked toxicity except for local irritation which was seen only after parenteral administration. We concluded on the basis of these animal experiments that there should be no problem in regard to safety after somewhat more extensive therapeutic application of CAS as a wound dressing in clinical practice.  (+info)

Extensive wound excision in shock stage in patients with major burns. (63/65)

To stop excessive plasma loss, alleviate noxious effects of devitalized tissues on the body and shorten the hospitalization time, we performed extensive escharectomy during the shock period in extensively burned patients. Group A consisted of 21 patients aged 9-45 years (26.1 +/- 7.9 years), with a mean total burn area of 63.2% +/- 18.1% TBSA, and full-thickness injury involving 35.9% +/- 19.6% TBSA. The first escharectomy was done at 24.1 +/- 13.9 hours postburn, and excision area averaged 32.3% +/- 6.7% TBSA (24%-46%). In 15 of them, Swan-Ganz catheter was introduced to monitor the hemodynamic changes. It was found that RAP, PAP, PAWP, ABP, HR, CO and CI were all stable during and after the operation. Group B consisted of 29 patients aged 11-50 years (30.4 +/- 11.7 years), in whom escharectomy was begun 4-5 days postburn. The mean healing time of the patients in group A was 33.1 days, shorter than that of group B patients (40.1 days). The duration of hemoconcentration was shorter in group A. The amount of blood transfusion was almost 700 ml less in group A during the first two weeks. Less antibiotics were used with fewer visceral complications in group A. We believe that escharectomy during the burn shock stage is feasible.  (+info)

Noninvasive assessment of the hydration gradient across the cornea using confocal Raman spectroscopy. (64/65)

PURPOSE: The feasibility of Raman spectroscopy for the noninvasive assessment of axial corneal hydration was investigated. METHODS: A scanning confocal Raman spectroscopy system, with an axial resolution of 50 microns, was used to assess noninvasively the water (OH-bond) to protein (CH-bond) ratio as a measure of the hydration in collagen-based phantom media and rabbit corneas. RESULTS: Raman spectra with high signal-to-noise ratios were obtained under in vitro and in vivo conditions within a range of corneal hydration (H = 0.0-8.3 mg water/mg dry wt). The Raman intensity ratio OH/CH showed a strong correlation with the hydration of the phantom medium (R2 > 0.99) and the rabbit corneas (R2 > 0.95). A degree of reproducibility was seen in measurements performed at a specific depth within the cornea (SD = 1.2%-2.7%). Quantitatively, the spatially resolved corneal water content, as assessed with our method, showed an increasing gradient from the anterior to the posterior region, with a difference of approximately 0.9. Significant qualitative differences in the axial hydration gradient were observed between the in vitro and in vivo situation, caused by the presence of an intact tear-film in vivo. Characterization of the axial corneal hydration using Raman spectroscopy provided a reliable estimation of total corneal hydration compared with conventional measurements using pachymetry and lyophilization. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed noninvasive confocal Raman spectroscopic technique has the potential to assess the axial corneal water gradient with a degree of sensitivity and reproducibility.  (+info)