Oral clefts in the Sultanate of Oman

This is a retrospective study of the epidemiology of congenital clefts of the lip and palate in babies of Omani nationals born in the Sultanate of Oman between 1989 and 1995. Babies of non-Omani immigrants were excluded from the study. The data were collected from two sources. The first was the Centralized Plastic Surgery Service of Khoula Hospital at Muscat, the capital city of Oman between 1989 and 1995, which registers all oral cleft cases in the country. These data revealed the overall incidence of oral clefts (OC) to be 1.5 per 1000 live births, with incidences of 0.62 per 1000 for combined lip and palate (CLP) cleft, 0.34 per 1000 for cleft lip (CL), and 0.54 per 1000 for isolated cleft palate (CP). The second data source was national delivery records from maternity sections of all hospitals in the country from 1989 to 1995, which include oral clefts as congenital anomalies identified at birth. These statistics were similar to those from the first source for CL/CLP but underestimated the number of isolated cleft palates (CP). The histories of patients attending the Plastic Surgery Clinic of Khoula Hospital during the last year of the study period could be examined in detail. A study of the 177 OC cases registered in 1995 alone revealed associated congenital anomalies in 38.4%. A higher inbreeding coefficient of 0.0294 was noted among oral cleft cases than in the general population, which was calculated at 0.0198. Familial clefts accounted for 23% of all cases. Greater parental age and birth order were found to be associated with increased risk of oral cleft. High temperatures during the tropical desert summers in Oman (when temperatures reach 48°C) do not seem related to the incidence of oral clefts.     

The role of telemedicine in the organisation of care

Telemedicine, or remote medicine, gives rise to new ways of organising nursing care. It promotes collaborative professional practices, especially between doctors and nurses, authorised by the 2009 "Hospital, patients, health and territories" law. The continuity of care at home is consolidated by medical telemonitoring which integrates nursing care and follow-up. This new organisation contributes to patients' therapeutic education.     

The organisation of critical care for burn patients in the UK: epidemiology and comparison of mortality prediction models

In the UK, a network of specialist centres has been set up to provide critical care for burn patients. However, some burn patients are admitted to general intensive care units. Little is known about the casemix of these patients and how it compares with patients in specialist burn centres. It is not known whether burn‐specific or generic risk prediction models perform better when applied to patients managed in intensive care units. We examined admissions for burns in the Case Mix Programme Database from April 2010 to March 2016. The casemix, activity and outcome in general and specialist burn intensive care units were compared and the fit of two burn‐specific risk prediction models (revised Baux and Belgian Outcome in Burn Injury models) and one generic model (Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre model) were compared. Patients in burn intensive care units had more extensive injuries compared with patients in general intensive care units (median (IQR [range]) burn surface area 16 (7–32 [0–98])% vs. 8 (1–18 [0–100])%, respectively) but in‐hospital mortality was similar (22.8% vs. 19.0%, respectively). The discrimination and calibration of the generic Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre model was superior to the revised Baux and Belgian Outcome in Burn Injury burn‐specific models for patients managed on both specialist burn and general intensive care units.     

The National Burn Information Exchange. The use of a national burn registry to evaluate and address the burn problem

The NBIE, a voluntary registry of specialized burn-care facilities that was founded in 1964, currently has 50 active participants representing 35 per cent of the nation's hospital beds for burned patients. Participating physicians submit information on the initial hospitalization of emergent and acute burn patients and, separately, on the reconstruction process for these patients. As of January 1986, a total of 94,594 patient's data are on file from 130 hospitals; 13,671 of these are reconstructive and 80,923 emergent and acute admissions. Information concerning new patients is submitted at a rate of about 6000 patients annually. The data are analyzed using INQUIRE, an original data retrieval system. Data on treatment methods and outcome have been used to establish baseline standards for the burned patient's care and survival. In addition, these data have been used to document institutional differences in mortality rates and indicate methods used by the more successful hospitals. The data also are being used to describe the long process of recovery from severe burns and to monitor changes in outcomes of burn accidents continually. The result of these analyses has been documentation of an overall improvement in survival and decline in hospitalization times at all levels of burn severity. Data also can be used with institution-specific data to look at organizational variables affecting survival. Use of this epidemiologic data allows prevention projects to be targeted at the groups at greatest risk. A newer application looks at the equity of the HCFA prospective payment system based on the DRGs assigned to burn severity. The NBIE is an example of how a voluntary, national registry, properly computerized and effectively managed, can contribute to resolving the problem it was established to study. The NBIE has been useful in increasing the understanding of health professionals and government decision makers of a complicated disease process. It has had a direct effect on the quality of patient care and on the process of controlling the incidence of burn injuries.     

The use of Biobrane by burn units in the United Kingdom: a national study

Biobrane^® is a biosynthetic wound dressing, first used by Woodruff in 1979, which has many of the ideal properties of a dressing as outlined by Pruitt and Levine [Pruitt Jr BA, Levine NS. Characteristics and uses of biologic dressings and skin substitutes. Arch Surg 1984;119(3):312–22]. It is becoming increasingly popular in the management of superficial and moderate depth partial thickness burns and a range of other conditions. When used appropriately, it has been shown to reduce pain levels, healing time, inpatient stay and nursing requirements when compared to traditional dressings. We present the results of a national study concerning the use of Biobrane^® in the United Kingdom, highlight variations in practice, discuss the pertinent issues, make suitable recommendations and highlight the versatility of Biobrane^® as a wound dressing.     

The continuing challenge of burn care in the elderly

Recent improvements in survival have stimulated interest in the care of elderly patients with burn injuries. We reviewed 278 patients aged 45 years and older treated during a 10-year period. The survival rate was 80% overall and 67% for patients over 75 years of age. Mortality rates correlated with patient age, burn size, presence of inhalation injury, number of complications of care, and fluid resuscitation requirements, but not with the number of preexisting medical problems. Burn wound excision and skin grafting were performed frequently and were well tolerated. During this period, hospital charges increased fourfold and were twice as great in nonsurvivors. Reimbursements based on diagnosis-related groups during the last 3 years of the review (75 patients) resulted in a total deficit of $1.2 million. Aggressive care for most elderly patients with burn injuries appears justified by the improved outcomes demonstrated. This has increased the difficulty of decisions regarding patient salvability and the allotment of resources. Elderly patients with burn injuries illustrate many contemporary dilemmas in patient care in this era of cost consciousness.     

Epidemiology of burns undergoing hospitalization to the National Burns Unit in the Sultanate of Oman: A 25-year review

Aim

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of burns admitted to the National Burns Unit (NBU) in the Sultanate of Oman between 1987 and 2011.

Methods

This is a retrospective review of burn patients admitted to Oman's National Burns Unit (NBU) between 1987 and 2011. The data extracted from the national burn registry. The study describes the admission rate by gender and age groups, occupation, causes of burns, time-to-admission, length of stay and in-hospital mortality of burns between 1987 and 2011.

Results

During a 25-year from 1987 to 2011, there were 3531 burn patients admitted to the National Burns Unit in Oman. The average admission rate to NBU is 7.02 per 100,000 persons per year. On average, males were more likely to be admitted to the NBU than females during the study period (P value < 0.04). Patients aged 1–10 years old constituted 46.6% of caseload during the study period. Flames and scalds caused 88.4% of burns. About half of all patients admitted to the NBU have burns to more than 11% of total body surface area (TBSA). The average stay in hospital was estimated to be 15.3 days per patient. The average in-hospital mortality rate was estimated to be 8.2% per year (range 1.9–22%).

Conclusion

Burns are significant public health issue in the Sultanate of Oman. Children are disproportionately over-represented in this study. Prevention programmes are urgently needed to address this “silent and costly epidemic.”     

Strategic planning of burn care services and the role of information systems

An information system to support strategic planning for burn care services could help to structure decisions and help indicate to planners those areas of critical relevance to the issue of which burn patients will survive and which will not. This is, therefore, the essence of the need for information system support for strategic planning for appropriate burn care services: to help to identify those critical areas that reflect the real needs of burn patients in terms of survival and nonsurvival that are amenable to changes through planning.Strategic planning for appropriate burn care services involves highly unstructured decision problems, that must be made by individuals who have a thinkingintuition psychological mode. Planning for the real needs of patients with burn injuries necessitates not only formalized, structured information systems, but information systems that are designed for the psychological modes of these planners of burn care services.     

The care of the burn patient in the rehabilitation center

The rehabilitation of a patient with serious burns involves several disciplines. The initial objective is to reduce the appearance or evolution of functional sequelae. The patient's future will depend on the quality of this rehabilitation.     

Efficacy of extrapolation from national burn data for estimating patient volume in a new burn unit

In 2009, the JMS Burn Centers network opened as the only organized inpatient burn unit in Mississippi. Initial predictions of total annual state burn admissions (431 patients) and total annual state burn center admissions (239 patients) were made by extrapolating from national burn and census data. Actual JMS admissions for 2 years totaled 1016 patients, exceeding predicted total state burn admission by 18% and total predicted state burn center admissions by 113%. Demographic and professional characteristics may have contributed to the substantial inaccuracy of the original estimates of burn patients in this state.     

Establishing a baseline for organisation and outcome in burn care-basic data compiled by German burn centres, 1991-2000

From the years 1991 to 2000, basic data from patients admitted to the intensive care unit of burn centres in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, participating in the German Speaking Association for Burn Treatment, were collected prospectively. Starting in 1991 with 7 hospitals and 618 patients included in the study; in the year 2000, 19 hospitals representing nearly 1500 patients submitted their data. Over a period of 10 years, a total number of 10,259 patients could be included in the study. The majority of patients were adult, the male/female ratio was 70/30. Most of the patients suffered from household accidents, only 25% were occupational accidents. Medium total burn surface area (TBSA) and Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI) score were quite similar in the participating hospitals, while the medium length of stay in the ICU ranged from 6 to 24 days. The overall mortality was 17.5% and showed no decrease over the period of time.     

The role of preliminary hospitals in the management of a mass burn casualty disaster

Purpose

The Formosa Fun Coast explosion is an internationally-known event that occurred in Taiwan on June 27th, 2015. The blast involved 495 casualties in total, with 253 patients receiving 2nd degree or deeper burns on greater than 40% of the total body surface area (TBSA). Questions were raised regarding whether these victims were sent to the appropriate hospitals or not. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of the initial admission destination in this study.