Burns
Conditions
Keywords
Burns, Wounds and injuries, Bandages
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to better understand how to best care for burn wounds.
Detailed description
Participants: Patients presenting to Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe Malawi with burn wounds occuring within 72 hours of admission. Procedures (methods): This is a prospective randomized trial. Subjects will be randomized during admission to receive either open dressing care or closed dressing care of their burn wounds.
Interventions
PROCEDUREClosed method
Subjects will have their wounds managed by covering with gauze and changing this gauze 3 to 7 times per week.
PROCEDUREOpen method
Subjects will have their burns managed by keeping the wounds exposed to the air.
Sponsors
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Burn wound admitted to the hospital * Signed informed consent * Burn wound occuring within 72 hours of admission
Exclusion criteria
* Language other than Chichewa or English * Inability to access of phone (required for follow-up)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Time to healing | 30-day | Time from burn injury to healing (defined as at least 90% epithelialization) as determined by hospital records, outpatient clinical records and telephone contact (with subject or next-of-kin) per study protocol. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mortality | 30-day | Mortality within 30 days of burn injury, as determined by hospital records, outpatient clinical records and telephone contact (with next-of-kin) per study protocol. |
| Burn wound infection rate | 30-day | Clinical suspicion of infection defined by presence of (a) burn wound cellulitis (erythema and/or edema AND pain and/or tenderness at the border of the wound), or (b) burn wound infection (change in appearance of the burn including focal or multifocal brown, black or violaceous discoloration OR rapid separation of the eschar OR conversion of partial thickness to full thickness burn). |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Microbiologic profile of clinical infections | 30-day | Qualitative microbiologic culture results and sensitivity panels from surface swabs taken from infected burn wounds (as defined by clinical criteria described in the secondary outcome burn wound infection rate). |
| Hospital length of stay | 30-day | Length of stay during initial hospitalization. |
| Number of surgical procedures | 30-day | Number of surgical procedures required including indication and type of procedure. |
| percent skin graft survival | 30-day | Percent survival (defined as area surviving / total area grafted at 7 days) of skin grafts. |
Outcome results
None listed