Temporal changes in deep venous thrombosis risk after electrical injury

Risk Assessment of Deep Venous Thrombosis and Its Influencing Factors in Burn Patients

The objective of this study is to explore the relevant risk factors of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in burn patients. A retrospective analysis was conducted for the medical records of 845 hospitalized burn patients from September 2012 to August 2017. Caprini thrombosis risk assessment scale (CTRAS) was employed for evaluating the risks of DVT. Based upon whether or not DVT occurred, they were divided into non-DVT group (n = 830) and DVT group (n = 15). Among 360 (42.7%) patients with high-risk Caprini scores, only 30 patients received color Doppler examination of lower limb veins, and 15 patients were diagnosed as DVT with a diagnostic rate of 1.8%. Caprini scores of non-DVT and DVT groups were 4.30 ± 2.71 and 9.87 ± 1.46 points, respectively. There was statistically significant difference (P < .05). As revealed by stepwise Logistic regression analysis, age, lower limb burn, wound infection, femoral vein catheterization, and long bedriddening time (>40 days) were independent risk factors for DVT. Burn patients are particularly prone to develop DVT. Age, wound infection, femoral vein catheterization, and long bedriddening time (>40 days) are risk factors. Aggressive preventive measures of DVT should be implemented.

Risk factors for thromboembolism in burn patients admitted to the burn unit at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES

  To investigate the prevalence and associated risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in burn patients.  Methods: This is a cross-sectional study eliciting the risk factors in burn patients who developed thromboembolism. The study took place at the Adult  Burn Unit, King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Charts of all patients admitted to the burn unit from January 2010 to December 2016 were reviewed. Only patients 16 years of age and older were included. The research team with a consultant plastic surgeon developed the data sheet. A total of 304 patient records met the inclusion criteria. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk factors for developing VTE. Results: Out of the entire study group of 304 patients, the majority (88.8%) of the participants received prophylactic anticoagulation. Twelve patients (3.9%)  developed VTE. All patients who developed VTE received prophylactic anticoagulation. Age, gender, body mass index, and degree of burn were not risk factors for VTE. However, electric burns were found to be an independent significant risk factor for developing VTE using a multivariate logistic regression. Conclusion: Electric burns were found to be the only independent significant risk factor of developing VTE.

Electrical Burns and Late Spontaneous Artery Ruptures: About Three Cases

Electrical burns are responsible for arterial and venous thrombosis, as well as weakening of the arteries. Immediate or delayed arterial occlusions, secondary to the aggression of the intima, or aneurysms, secondary to the aggression of the media, sometimes lead to artery ruptures without any warning signs. Such ruptures may trigger a hemorrhagic shock whose period of onset is variable and unpredictable. We are presenting here three cases treated in our department for electrical burns, whose complications were marked by hemorrhagic shock, secondary to late artery ruptures, sometimes occurring several months following the event. These case reports required performance of emergency hemostasis in order to control sudden bleeding, with first approach being placement of a tourniquet at the base of the limb and/or a compression point. Through these cases, we thought it is crucial to closely monitor for a few weeks all patients who were victims of electrical injury, even more so if it was associated with a compartment syndrome of one or more limbs and high rhabdomyolysis, which seem to be predictive factors of late artery ruptures in our case reports.

Upon admission coagulation and platelet function in patients with thermal and electrical injuries

RATIONAL

There has been increased focus on hemostatic potential and function in the initial assessment of the patient with traumatic injuries, that not been extensively studied in patients with burns. We proposed to determine the hemostatic potential of patients with burns upon admission to the emergency department and contrasted their condition with that of healthy controls and patients with other traumatic injuries. In addition we assessed differences due to thermal versus electrical injury and evaluated the effect of burn size.

METHODS

This is a patient based prospective observational study conducted with delayed consented. Subjects at the highest level of trauma activation upon admission to the ED had a blood sample collected for research purposes and were subsequently consented. Hemostatic potential was measured by rapid thromelastography (r-TEG^®), thrombin generation by calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) and platelet function by Multiplate^® using five activators. Burn subjects were compared to subjects with other traumatic injuries and controls. Within the burn subjects additional analysis compared mechanism (thermal vs. electrical) and burn size. Values are medians (IQR).

RESULTS

Two hundred and eighty two trauma patients (with burns n=40, 14%) and 27 controls were enrolled. Upon admission, compared to controls, subjects with burns or trauma were hyper-coagulable based on r-TEG and CAT, with increased rates of clot formation and thrombin generation. There were no differences in burns compared to other traumatic injuries. The presence of hyper-coagulation did not appear to be related to the type of burn or the percentage of total body surface area involved. Employing previous defined cut points for R-TEG driven therapeutic interventions burn patients had similar rates of hyper- and hypo-coagulation noted in patients with traumatic injuries.

CONCLUSION

Upon admission patients with burns are in a hyper-coagulable state similar to that of other trauma patients. Employing demonstrated cut points of hemostatic potential in trauma patients associated with increased risk of poor outcomes demonstrated the incidence in burn patients to be similar, suggesting that these values could be used in the early assessment of the patient with burns to guide treatment interventions.

Hypercoagulability after burn injury

BACKGROUND

Hypercoagulability is a homeostatic response to trauma, but relatively little information is available about coagulation changes after burn injury. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that burn patients are hypercoagulable at admission and/or during recovery.

METHODS

A prospective observational trial was conducted at an American Burn Association verified Burn Center. Thromboelastography (TEG) was performed on blood drawn from indwelling catheters upon admission and weekly for those who remained hospitalized. Routine and special coagulation tests were performed on stored samples. Data are expressed as median (interquartile range).

RESULTS

Twenty-four patients (88% male) were enrolled, with a median age of 49 (20) years and a median total body surface area burn of 29% (23%); 21 experienced thermal burns (4 inhalational injuries), and 3 had electrical burns. There were no significant differences in TEG or coagulation assays between patients with thermal versus electrical burn injury, but there were significant differences between men versus women and between those with or without inhalational injury. Sixteen patients had repeat samples 1 week after intensive care unit admission. The repeat TEG was more hypercoagulable (all p < 0.05). Fibrinogen and natural anticoagulation proteins (protein C, protein S, and antithrombin III) were also increased (all p < 0.05). Two patients (8%) developed venous thromboembolism (VTE); TEG reaction time, fibrinogen, and partial thromboplastin time were decreased (all p < 0.05) at admission compared with those with no VTE. All changes occurred despite pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis. There was no significant correlation between TEG and total body surface area or between TEG and fluid balance.

CONCLUSION

In general, burn patients have normal coagulation parameters at admission but become hypercoagulable during recovery. However, those who are hypercoagulable at admission may have an increased risk of VTE. Additional monitoring and/or thromboprophylaxis may be indicated.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Epidemiologic/prognostic study, level III.

The year in burns 2011

For 2011, approximately 1746 original research articles in burns were published in English in scientific journals. This article reviews those with the most potential impact on for burn therapeutics and outcomes according to the Editor of one of the major journals (Burns) and his colleague. As done previously, articles were found and divided into these topic areas: epidemiology of injury and burn prevention, wound and scar characterisation, acute care and critical care, inhalation injury, infection, psychological considerations, pain and itching management, rehabilitation and long-term outcomes, and burn reconstruction. Each selected article is mentioned briefly with editorial comment.

Acquired inpatient risk factors for venous thromboembolism after thermal injury

Acquired, in-hospital risk factors that contribute to venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk after thermal injury remain unknown. The authors performed a retrospective, matched case-control study to examine associations between acquired, in-hospital risk factors and development of VTE. They identified thermally injured patients who were diagnosed with VTE over an 8.5-year period at our institution. VTE patients were matched 2:1 with non-VTE controls based on age, TBSA burned, and presence of inhalation injury. Retrospective chart review identified recognized VTE risk factors such as infectious complications, operative procedures, or central venous access. For each VTE patient and their matched controls, data analysis was limited to the time period before VTE developed. This allowed examination of differences in the pre-VTE hospital course between patients with and without VTE. Nineteen patients with VTE were matched 2:1 with non-VTE controls. No significant differences were present between groups for age, gender, TBSA, inhalation injury, body mass index, ventilator days, and intensive care unit or hospital length of stay. Patients with VTE had significantly more operations (3.7 vs 1.9, P = .038), were more likely to have pneumonia (73.7 vs 43.2%, P = .031), or have central venous line insertion (84.2 vs 51.4%, P = .016) in the pre-VTE period. No significant differences were present for positive blood cultures, urinary tract infections, or burn wound infection between groups. Our study demonstrates that number of operations, pneumonia, and central venous access are significantly associated with VTE after thermal injury. These in-hospital risk factors should be incorporated into future risk assessment models.