He said that in Vietnam, this guy was on fire and in their panic, they threw a bag of flour all over him to put the fire out. He said to keep my hand in the flour for 10 minutes. I pulled out a bag and he stuck my hand in it. I missed and my hand went into the boiling water.Ī friend of mine, who was a Vietnam vet, came into the house, just as I was screaming, and asked me if I had some plain old flour. Once I was cooking some corn and stuck my fork in the boiling water to see if the corn was ready. The advice it provides runs contrary to all accepted knowledge about how to treat burns and thus should not be heeded: Kim et al conducted a study of 44 patients with second degree burns and demonstrated an increase in healing time, more comfort, and a decrease in dressing changes with the use of Polymem.A seemingly helpful medical heads-up about treating burns began making the rounds on the Internet in March 2011. It also allows the dressing to remain on the wound for three days. The absorbing agent maintains the moisture of the wound which has been shown to increase wound healing. Glycerin acts as a moisturizer and prevents the pad from sticking to the wound. The F86 surfactant is involved in dissolving the superficial necrotic layer of the burn and helps clean the burn site. The pad contains a wound cleanser (F68 surfactant), a moisturizer (glycerin) and an absorb ing agent (super-absorbent polymem). Polymem is a novel dressing which has been approved by the FDA for open wounds including burns.Polymem is a hydrophilic polyurethane membrane pad with a semi permeable polyurethane film backing. The majority of our patients are unable to change this dressing by themselves and they either return to the burn center daily for wound care or we arrange for a visiting nurse. This dressing consists of bacitracin applied to the burn wound and xeroform covered by cotton gauze and ace-wrap. Our present burn care involves initial superficial outpatient debridement of the burn wound and application of a dressing. Various methods are used from the conventional dressing methods using guaze to the methods that use biological materials such as skin from cadavers, pig's skin and artificial synthetic materials. The MetroHealth Burn Center treats over 1500 patients a year for superficial second degree burns. Complications such as desiccation of the wound or infection may extend the depth of the injury and result in an increase in scarring or the requirement for excision of the burn and skin grafting. Superficial second degree burns are limited to the epidermis and superficial layer of the dermis and are expected to heal without the need of surgery if they are treated appropriately. The study will end for each patient when the investigator determines that 95% of their burn has re-epithelized. It will be noted if the wound appears infected or if antibiotics are prescribed. On each subsequent visit, patients will rate the pain of the dressing change on a 1-10 pain intensity scale. Laser Doppler will be utilized to determine burn depth at both the trial and control sites. All dressings will be covered with cotton gauze and ace wraps. All burns will be initially debrided and cleaned according to burn unit protocol. One site will be identified for bacitracin/xeroform and one site for Polymen. Each site will be at least 4cm x 4cm in size. The depth of injury will be verified as partial thickness using laser doppler. One of the investigators will identify two sites that appear to be the same depth on each patient. If the patients are eligible according to the inclusion/exclusion criteria, consent for the study will be obtained. Patients will be screened at the initial visit to the burn center. Why Should I Register and Submit Results?.
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