No abstract

Burns 3 5 S ( 2 0 0 9 ) S1-S47 Testosterone serum levels were higher in non-survivors women than in survivors (p = 0.001) regardless of the postmenopausal state, whereas they resulted reduced in burn men without a significant difference considering the outcome. Plasma levels of prolactin were significantly lower as well in men as in women who died than in those who survived (p = 0.029 and p < 0.001, respectively). No significant difference between survivors and non-survivors was found in plasma FSH and LH levels. Conclusion:Gonadic setting in our population of burn patients resulted only in part consistent with well-known pathophysiological mechanisms. Prolactin levels' reduction can be partly explained by the early dopamine infusion, but the lack of stress-induced hyperprolactinemia also in patients not receiving dopamine was unexpected; furthermore we did not find such an important gonadotropin suppression as stress should have led to. Finally, the most interesting data was testosterone and estradiol increase in postmenopausal women with the worst outcome: peripheral actions such as aromatization are likely to be involved. More data are needed for a better comprehension, especially because of the estradiol chance of being not only a marker of global inflammatory response, but also a possible agent in the development of burn complications. Results: A total of 262 patients were seen in 34 months. The majority of patients were young, 39.2% was under 5 years of age. The age of patients ranged from 0 up to 79 years. Scalds were the major cause of burn (42.0%) followed by flame (35.9%) and fat burns (9.2%). The mean TBSA was 10.3%, ranging from 1 to 84%.The number of contacts with the aftercare nurse varied between 1 and 14. On average patients had three contacts. In 31.3% the aftercare nurse referred to another specialist, predominantly the psychologist (68.3%). Rationale: Workload in a burn unit is very important. It is assessed only by few studies. The impact is major on the team life: professional lifetime; prevention of infection and quality of care. The workload in our burn unit was assessed by an independent society. They focus on dressing changes under general anesthesia, and operative theatre activity. ConclusionMethods: During 3 weeks, we complete a reference worksheet. the hour of beginning, hour of end, and all the personnel (quantity and quality) used was noted. The interpreting process was made by an independent board. Results:The audit was realised from the first to the 21st December 2008. During this period 127 events were recorded: 20 surgical interventions, 3 admissions in intensive care and 104 dressing changes. Dressing changes begin at 08h00 AM and most are closed after 12h15. The team occupation (anesthesiologists, nurses specialized in anesthesiology, nurses and nurse's aid) is over 90% during this time. Surgeons worked only in operating theatre. The operating theatre was used during 4 h and 30 min 4 days a week. Nurses specialised in surgical intervention were usually free after 12h00 to 03h0...