Overall, liver-related mortality, treatment failure and complication rates remained constant despite an increase in non-operative management. However, in high-grade injuries outcomes improved after the introduction of AE.

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BackgroundPartial thickness burns are painful, difficult to manage and can have a negative effect on quality of life through scarring, permanent disfigurement and loss of function. The aim of burn treatment in partial thickness burns is to save lives, stimulate wound healing by creating an optimumly moist wound environment, to have debriding and analgesic effects, protect the wound from infection and be convenient for the patient and caregivers. However, there is no consensus on the optimal treatment of partial thickness wounds. Flaminal® and Flamazine® are two standard treatment options that provide the above mentioned properties in burn treatment. Nevertheless, no randomized controlled study has yet compared these two common treatment modalities in partial thickness burns. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness, quality of life and cost-effectiveness of Flaminal® versus Flamazine® in the treatment of partial thickness burns.Methods/DesignIn this two-arm open multi-center randomized controlled trial, 90 patients will be randomized between Flaminal® and Flamazine® and followed for 12 months. The study population will consist of competent or temporarily non-competent (because of sedation and/or intubation) patients, 18 years of age or older, with acute partial thickness burns and a total body surface area (TBSA) of less than 30 %. The main study outcome is time to complete re-epithelialization (greater than 95 %). Secondary outcome measures include need for grafting, wound colonization/infection, number of dressing changes, pain and anxiety, scar formation, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and costs.DiscussionThis study will contribute to the optimal treatment of patients with partial thickness burn wounds and will provide evidence on the (cost-)effectiveness and quality of life of Flaminal® versus Flamazine® in the treatment of partial thickness burns.Trial registrationNetherlands Trial Register NTR4486, registered on 2 April 2014.

Frostbite is an injury caused by the freezing of tissue, causing varied levels of tissue damage and necrosis. Case reports have shown a positive effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) in such injuries, in acute cases as well as delayed (up to 21 days) presentation with complications. In this case report we present the course of hyperbaric treatment of two patients (a brother and sister, age 58 and 62) who sustained frostbite injuries to both feet 28 days earlier while hiking in the Himalayas. They were initially treated in Nepal following local protocol; afterward their primary care in the Netherlands was managed by the Burn Centre at Maasstad Hospital in Rotterdam. Both patients were treated with daily sessions of in total 80 minutes of 100% oxygen at 2.5 atmospheres absolute. The female patient (age 62) received 25 sessions and showed a remarkable preservation of tissue and quick demarcation. Only partial surgical amputation of the second toe on the right was needed. In the male patient (age 58) both front feet were already mummified to a larger extent before start of treatment. During hyperbaric oxygen therapy 30 sessions) demarcation progressed quickly, resulting in early surgical amputation. Both patients experienced no side effects of HBO2 treatment. Given that both patients showed a quick progress and demarcation of their wounds, with remarkable tissue preservation in the female patient, we suggest that hyperbaric oxygen therapy should be considered in treating frostbite injuries, in acute as well as delayed cases, even four weeks after initial injury.

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