Active clinical trials for "Burns"

Oral burning can have a multitude of reasons. Recent neurophysiologic study results suggest that a primary burning mouth disorder (BMD) may be a peripheral and/or a central neuropathic disorder. The aim of this study is to first identify patients with a primary burning mouth disorder by excluding other possible causes for oral burning. By means of qualitative and quantitative sensory testing and a gustatory examination in the individual patient the investigators want to find out whether neurosensory differences exist between patients with a primary BMD and controls and whether gustatory and neurosensory deficits always coexist in BMD-patients.

Severe burn patients are some of the most challenging critically ill patients with an extreme and continuous state of physiological stress. Patients tends to stay for a long period of time in intensive care unit to treat burns as well as dealing with complications that arises from the initial burns injury. Severe burns patients are notoriously known to loose weight. The word 'catabolism' is used medically. This theory of catabolism after a trauma was hypothesised in 1942 by Professor Curthberston and based on animal models. Since this date, despite medical technological advancement, there has been no research that confirms Professor Curthberston's theory. Investigators still do not know the exact mechanism by which the body changes from conserving energy to becoming catabolic. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether this change in catabolism is necessary to heal from burns injury. This theoretical catabolism in burns patients is currently treated with nutritional supplement, use of medications including beta-blockers (suppresses heart rate and decreases blood pressure) and oxandrolone (formula which is similar to testosterone to build up muscles). There are evidences to suggest that increase in weight loss worsens the outcome in burns injury. Both overfeeding or underfeeding patients can be detrimental. In this research, the exact changes in metabolic rate will be measured in the first 72 hours of the study using a calorimetry machine. In addition to the metabolic rate, the response to the heart, liver, kidneys and hormonal levels will be measured. By looking into these dynamic changes the investigator will be able to elucidate whether there is a real increase in metabolic rate. If there is, the investigator would also be able to tell the response of different organs and whether there are any hormones that could be responsible to inflicting the metabolic changes.

There have been multiple articles done regarding oral hygiene on patients in burn and intensive care patients. All articles agree the need for good oral hygiene in these special needs patients. They also note that more research needs to be done on this subject, yet have no direction of how to proceed in this research. Currently, no research has been done on the burn/intensive care patient to see if there is a difference form the non-hospitalized patient which oral hygiene protocol is based on.

To examine long term physical and psychosocial outcomes of pediatric burn survivors. We want to learn about thoughts, feelings, coping style, social support, and overall adjustment following burn injury.

The investigators are collecting information on the calorie needs of patients in the first year postburn. The investigators hypothesize that increased energy needs continue for up to a year following wound closure from burn injury.

This study is designed to determine the response of adult stems cells, also referred to as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), to tissue injury resulting from thermal burns. The study will consist of a one time collection of a patient's blood, about one teaspoon, on the third day following the initial burn. MSCs in the blood will then be quantitated and identified using according to unique proteins found on their cell surface using flow cytometry. The results of flow cytometry analysis will then be compared to the patients characteristics (age, sex, race, etc.), their past medical history (hx of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc.) and to the patient outcome (length of hospital stay, mortality, etc.).

Burn surgery is associated with significant reductions in hematocrit. However, it is unclear whether these reductions are the result of hemodilution from non-red cell containing intraoperative transfusions or from loss of red blood cells. The investigators will be using the Daxor Blood Volume Analyzer (BVA-100), an FDA approved instrument that can measure total blood volume, plasma volume, and RBC volume using the indicator dilution technique. By comparing pre-operative measurements of blood volume, plasma volume, and RBC volume to that of post-operative measurements after burn surgery, the investigators can determine the primary cause of the reduction in hematocrit associated with burn surgery. The investigators hypothesize that these reductions in hematocrit are primarily the result of hemodilution rather than blood loss and that there will be a statistically significant difference in measured plasma volume from the pre-operative group to the post-operative group.

According to the National Burn Repository 2007, the most common type of burn injury is a partial thickness burns. The current standard of care for partial thickness burns is two weeks of topical therapy and wound care. Burns that do not heal within two weeks undergo surgical excision and skin grafting.

Once the victim survived the acute phase, the outcome of wound healing, the scarring, became a major medical issue with complications that may lead to cosmetic and functional sequelae. Scar tissue is clinically distinguished from normal skin by an aberrant color, rough surface texture, increased thickness (hypertrophy), contraction, firmness and sometimes, decrease function. Thus, functional and cosmetic outcomes became at least important as wound closure in assessing wound healing products

Our specific aim is to gain an understanding of protein synthesis rates in burn patients at various times during their injury and recovery by using PET scans. This will be compared with healthy volunteer controls. We hope this will help optimize nutrition and care regimens for future burn patients.