Many studies demonstrate that being burned has both physical and psychological sequelae that affect quality of life. Further, these effects may be more prevalent in some regions and populations. We sought to access the unbalanced distributions and temporal trends concerning the health burden of thermal burns.
Data were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, and the disability-adjusted life year (DALY)1 was used as a measure of health burden. Linear regression was used to evaluate the relationship between the age-standardized DALY rate and socio-demographic index.2 Joinpoint regression analysis and comparison line charts were all applied to assess the temporal trends of burns.
The age-standardized DALY rate of global thermal burns decreased by 43.7%, from 197 (95% CI: 152-228) per 100,000 in 1990 to 111 (95% CI: 93-129) per 100,000 in 2017. The burden was borne mainly by children 1-4 years of age and people over 80 years. Socio-demographic index was negatively correlated with the age-standardized DALY rate. In low-middle and low socio-demographic index regions, the decreasing trends were slower than other regions with an average annual percentage change of -2.1% (95% CI: -2.2 to -2.0) and -2.1% (95% CI: -2.1 to -2.0), respectively. Among six geographical regions, Africa presented the highest age-standardized DALY rates of 352 (95% CI: 275-410) per 100,000 in 1990 and 208 (95% CI: 175-236) per 100,000 in 2017, and also the slowest average decreasing trend, with an average annual percentage change of -1.9% (95% CI: -2 to -1.8).
The global burden of thermal burns shows a downward trend from 1990 to 2017, and regions with lower socio-demographic index and Africa show greater burdens and smaller downward trends.

Comparative studies of human tissue damage caused by burns are challenging because precise information regarding the temperature, time, and duration of the exposure is often missing. Animal models cannot be fully translated to the human system due to interspecies differences in cutaneous tissues. We used a human composite tissue model to compare tissue damage caused by thermal burns with different dynamics. Equal subcutaneous/cutaneous composite tissue samples from six donors were first exposed to either preheated steel (100 °C) or a precision flame burner (300 °C) and were then maintained in vitro for seven days. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that flame burns instantly caused deep and stable damage to the subcutaneous tissue, which stayed constant for seven days. By contrast, contact burns inflicted tissue damage that was initially superficial but then expanded deeper into the adipose tissue. This spatiotemporal expansion of tissue damage was essentially accompanied by macrophage and fibroblast activation, which points towards inflammation resolution and wound healing. Our study suggests that thermal differences in burns directly influence the course of tissue damage, the cellular response and, consequently, the likely dynamics of repair processes days after burn injuries.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcome of patients with up to 60% total body surface area (TBSA) thermal burns undergoing ultra-early and early excision and grafting.
METHODS: This historical cohort study was performed in two referral burn centers of Shiraz during a 1-year period from 2015 to 2016. We included those patients with thermal burns up to 60% TBSA who underwent ultra-early (48-72 hours) and early (7-10 days) excision and grafting. We excluded those who were hemodynamically unstable and those with electrical burns. The outcome of patients was determined by graft success, operation duration, blood loss, hospital length of stay and mortality rate.
RESULTS: We included a total number of 107 patients with mean age of 32.1 ± 11.6 years. There were 65 (60.7%) men and 42 (39.3%) women among the patients. Both study groups were comparable regarding the baseline characteristics. Ultra-early excision and grafting was associated with more, higher graft success rate (p=0.048), lower infection rate (p=0.037), shorter hospital length of stay (p=0.044) and lower mortality rate (p=0.027).
CONCLUSIONS: Ultra-early excision and grafting in patients with thermal burns covering less than 60% TBSA was associated with higher graft success rate, shorter hospital length of stay, lower infection rate and lower mortality rate when compared to early surgery.

Following reports of heparin use in burn treatment, an ethics-committee-approved prospective randomized study with controls compared results obtained using traditional usual burn treatment without heparin with results in similar patients similarly treated with heparin added topically. The subjects were 100 consecutive burn patients (age <15 years) with second-degree superficial and deep burns of 5-45 % total body surface area size. Two largely similar cohort groups-a control group (C) and a heparin group (H) with 50 subjects per group-were randomly treated. The 50 control group patients received traditional routine treatment, including topical antimicrobial cream, debridement, and, when needed, skin grafts in the early postburn period. The 50 heparin group patients, without topical cream, were additionally treated, starting on day 1 postburn, with 200 IU/ml sodium aqueous heparin solution USP (heparin) dripped on the burn surfaces and inserted into the blisters two to four times a day for 1-2 days, and then only on burn surfaces for a total of 5-7 days, before skin grafting, when needed. Thereafter, control and heparin group treatment was similar. It was found that the heparin patients complained of less pain and received less pain medicine than the control patients. The heparin group needed fewer dressings and oral antibiotics than the control group. The 50 heparin group patients had 4 skin graftings (8 %), while the 50 control group patients had 10 (20 %). Five control group patients died (mortality 10 %). No heparin group patients died. The number of days in hospital for the heparin group versus control group was significantly less (overall P < 0.0001): 58 % of heparin group patients were discharged within 10 days versus 6 % of control group patients; 82 % of heparin group patients were out in 20 days versus 14 % of control group patients; 98 % of the heparin group versus 44 % of the control group were out in 30 days; and while 100 % of heparin group patients were discharged by day 40, 56 % of the control group required up to another 10 days. Burns in heparin group patients healed on average in 15 days (maximum period 37 days) versus an average of 25 days (maximum >48 days) in control group patients (P < 0.0006). Procedures and costs in the heparin group were much reduced compared with the control group. Differences between the heparin and control groups are presented for the sake of comparison. It was concluded that heparin applied topically for 5-7 days improved burn treatment: it reduced pain, pain medicine, dressings, and use of antibiotics; it significantly reduced IV fluids (P < 0.04), days in hospital (P < 0.0001), and healing time (P < 0.0006); and it reduced skin grafts, mortality, and costs.