This volume is published with a triple aim: to take a look back over the advances during the ten years of the Mediterranean Burns Club and mark its anniversary; to follow up and strengthen the successful twin ning of burns as a clinical, individual illness problem and fires as a societal, disaster management problem; and to look ahead at the per spectives of burn care and fire prevention in the fast-approaching new century. The occasion also marks the tenth annual presentation of the prestigious G. Whitaker International Burns Prize, to which the Mediterranean Burns Club acts as the scientific fulcrum. The award is now established as the most distinguished recognition in burns science worldwide, and it is gratifying that the contributions of many of the renowned recipients will be found in this book. This is a sequel to The Management of Mass Burn Casualties and Fire Disasters, which contained the Proceedings of the First International Conference on Burns and Fire Disasters. The book and the conference have fully justified the authors' initial concept that burn specialists, con stantly combatting burn disease and promoting rehabilitation of the victims, especially in mass casualty situations, had for too long remained separate from that other essential sector, the fire-fighting authorities and fire prevention systems, whose aim is also the protection of the individual and the promotion of safety. This long overdue synergism has now become reality, and the present volume strengthens this desirable trend.

This practical guide offers a comprehensive summary of the most important and most immediate therapeutic approaches in the assessment and treatment of burn injuries. Taking into account age-specific needs in pediatric, adult, and elderly burn patients, the book discusses key issues such as pre-hospital treatment, wound care and infection control, burn nursing, and critical care. In addition, burn reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation for burn victims are described. Written in a concise manner, Burn Care and Treatment provides guidelines for the optimal care in order to improve patient outcome, and thus will be a valuable reference for physicians, surgeons, residents, nurses, and other burn care providers.

This book presents the principles of hand trauma and plastic reconstructive surgery in a clear and concise manner. Its aim is to instruct the reader on how to identify the priorities of treatment and, using the principles of therapy, select the appropriate treatment modalities. Part one presents the principles of burns and plastic surgery, followed by an explanation of the roles of the multidisciplinary team. Part two explores the role of the physiotherapist and includes the principles of hand therapy, assessment and treatment modalities.

Treatment rationales are referenced with the available evidence and aspects that lack evidence are highlighted, with the intention of stimulating further investigation. In order to clarify and reaffirm essential parts of the text, key point boxes are provided regularly throughout the book.

"The book should be required reading for every clinician, medical student, social worker, and therapist who cares for injured patients, and especially for those who care for burned patients. It also should be made widely available in bookstores for anyone who has empathy for the ill and infirm or curiosity about burns."--"Journal of the American Medical Association" Although medical advances have remarkably increased the survival rate of the severely burned, such patients still encounter physical and psychological pain and disability, disfigurement, and social rejection. "Rising from the Flames" examines the experience of the severely burned as survivors confront it, not just as a medical event but as a human ordeal involving social, cultural, psychological, and medical trauma. It discusses the causes of burns, the physiology of injury and healing, the forms of isolation burn patients endure, and the cultural meaning attached to burns and burned persons.

These eight volumes, which developed out of the international congress "Update and Future Trends in Fibrin Sealing in Surgical and Nonsurgical Fields" held in November 1992, present the state of the art in fibrin sealing. Initially, fibrin sealant played an important role in surgery. During the past few years, it has been increasingly applied nonsurgically and we can now say that it has become an integral component of medical treatment. The doubts which have been raised by nonusers about the efficacy of fibrin sealant are no longer valid. The correct indication and technique continue to be basic prerequisites for effective treatment. Even today - 20 years after fibrin sealant was first used - the three most prominent effects of fibrin sealant are still hemostasis, sealing of the wound, and support of wound healing. The problems posed by the transmission of viral infections have gained sub stantially in importance because of the potential transmission of AIDS via fi brin sealant. Fortunately, this is so unlikely today that it no longer represents a cause for concern, which does not mean, however, that research in this field can be discontinued.

In this book, the authors present current research in the study of burns. Burns are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality and are among the most devastating of all traumatic injuries, resulting in physical impairment, permanent disabilities, and emotional distress. Topics discussed in this compilation include the diagnosis, management and research of burns; the current and future directions of burn resuscitation and wound management; a manual therapy approach, known as Mulligan's mobilisations with movement, and its use for treatment and management of hand burn injuries; the epidemiological characteristics of burn injuries; and finally, the authors discuss hospital experiences of patients with paediatric burns.

Plum and Posner's Diagnosis and Treatment of Stupor and Coma, 5th edition, is a major update of the classic work on diagnosing the cause of coma, with the addition of completely new sections on treatment of comatose patients, by Dr. Jan Claassen, the Director of the Neuro-ICU at Columbia New York Presbyterian Hospital. The first chapter of the book provides an up-to-date review on the brain mechanisms that maintain a conscious state in humans, and how lesions that damage these mechanisms cause loss of consciousness or coma. The second chapter reviews the neurological examination of the comatose patient, which provides the basis for determining whether the patient is suffering from a structural brain injury causing the coma, or from a metabolic disorder of consciousness. The third and fourth chapters review the pathophysiology of structural lesions causing coma, and the specific disease states that result in coma. Chapter five is a comprehensive treatment of the many causes of metabolic coma. Chapter 6 review psychiatric causes of unresponsiveness and how to identify and treat them. Chapters 7 and 8 review the overall emergency treatment of comatose patients, followed by the treatment of specific causes of coma. Chapter 9 examines the long term outcomes of coma, including the minimally conscious state and the persistent vegetative state, and how they can be distinguished, and their implications for eventual useful recovery. Chapter 10 reviews the topic of brain death and the standards for examination of a patient that are required to make the determination of brain death. The final chapter 11 is by J.J. Fins, a medical ethicist who was invited by the other authors to write an essay on the ethics of diagnosis and treatment of patients who, by definition, have no way to approve of or communicate about their wishes. While providing detailed background for neurological and neurosurgical specialists, the practical nature of the material in this book has found its greatest use among Internists, Emergency Medicine, and Intensive Care specialists, who deal with comatose patients frequently, but who may not have had extensive neurological training.

This interdisciplinary account provides an integrated and practical guide to the management and treatment of burns. Experts from all the major disciplines involved in critical care have focused their attention on specific problems and areas of treatment involved in the care of burned patients. Although it is essentially a practical guide to the management of thermal injury, with explicit recommendations for courses of treatment, it also provides explanatory background information on the manifestations and clinical consequences of this common source of injury. Between them, the contributors encompass all the major facets of critical care of the burned patient: from initial assessment and monitoring, resuscitation, nutritional aspects, infection, anaesthesia and surgical management, right through to postoperative care and prognosis. The volume will be useful to specialists in critical care, intensive and emergency medicine, surgery and anaesthesia, and to all staff associated with intensive care and burns units.

This interdisciplinary account provides an integrated and practical guide to the management and treatment of burns. Experts from all the major disciplines involved in critical care have focused their attention on specific problems and areas of treatment involved in the care of burned patients. Although it is essentially a practical guide to the management of thermal injury, with explicit recommendations for courses of treatment, it also provides explanatory background information on the manifestations and clinical consequences of this common source of injury. Between them, the contributors encompass all the major facets of critical care of the burned patient: from initial assessment and monitoring, resuscitation, nutritional aspects, infection, anaesthesia and surgical management, right through to postoperative care and prognosis. The volume will be useful to specialists in critical care, intensive and emergency medicine, surgery and anaesthesia, and to all staff associated with intensive care and burns units.

Delivering Emergency Medicine involves constant challenges to the emergency clinician, seen in the frequency of severely unwell patients, the wide breadth of conditions encountered, and the urgency required in diagnosis and treatment. Concise, and, critically, accessible, Algorithms for Emergency Medicine supports the key decision-making requirements of clinicians working in the Emergency Department. Designed to support rapid problem solving, this resource covers everything from common non-life-threatening emergencies such as headaches to life-threatening acute events such as major traumas. Each topic is divided into two; the left page provides essential knowledge, and on the right, an algorithm which guides the clinician in a step by step process in managing these conditions. Evidence based and up-to-date, this book follows the College of Emergency Medicine Curriculum, making it an invaluable resource for Emergency Nurse Practitioners, new doctors starting their placement in the Emergency Department, and trainee doctors working towards specialising in Emergency Medicine.

Emerging as a new sub-specialization within the hospitalist community, the neurosurgery hospitalist provides preoperative risk stratification, advises on managing pre- and postoperative complications, and helps doctors make decisions about when to involve specialists other than neurosurgeons. This collaborative approach to the neurosurgery patient has been shown to offer effective care since hospitalists can be better attuned than specialists to multiple medical problems that most patients have. Medical Management of Neurosurgical Patients is a first of its kind textbook providing a standardized source of information for neurosurgery hospitalists in order to establish a common ground and improve their knowledge and training. The work will focus on management of CNS infections, management of bleeding in the context of CNS surgery (a potentially catastrophic complication), management of sodium and blood glucose levels including steroid-induced hyperglycemia, perioperative pain control, and management of pressure injuries and rehabilitation in the context of CNS injury.

Neurotrauma: A Comprehensive Textbook on Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Cord Injury aims to bring together the latest clinical practice and research in the filed of two forms of trauma to the central nervous system: namely traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI). Nationally, more 1.9 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury annually. In parallel, there are an estimate of 12,000 new cases of SCI in the United States annually. In addition, approximately 1.2 million people live with paralysis due to SCI. In recent years, dramatic advancements in the field have resulted in much improved outcomes for patients and higher standards of care. This volume details the latest research and clinical practice in the treatment of neurotrauma, in a comprehensive but easy-to-follow format. Neurotrauma is a valuable resource for any clinician involved in caring for TBI and SCI patients, clinical research professionals, researchers, medical and graduate students, and nurse specialists.

Burn injuries are recognised as a major health problem worldwide, causing morbidity and mortality in individuals of all ages. The Oxford Specialist Handbook of Burns is a concise, easy-to-navigate reference text that outlines the assessment, management, and rehabilitation of burns patients. With contributions from international experts, this handbook covers all aspects of burn-patient care, from first aid to reconstructive techniques and physiotherapy. This new, pocket-sized title is an invaluable resource for all those who come into contact with burns patients, from accident and emergency doctors to allied health professionals, as well as specialists and trainees in burns units. Filling an important niche in the market for an accessible quick-access guide for those first on the scene, The Oxford Specialist Handbook of Burns is a comprehensive and detailed new resource.

The Essential Burn Unit Handbook is a pocket-sized reference dedicated to the evaluation, diagnosis, care, and treatment of burn patients. It covers the spectrum of burn care, from initial assessment and treatment to long-term sequelae. This second edition includes an added chapter on the criteria for admissions to a burn unit as well as outpatient and follow-up care. It covers a wealth of topics that surgical residents, emergency medicine residents, and critical care fellows often encounter such as patient nutrition, the use of antibiotics, wound care, and some of the unique pathologic conditions seen in this distinct and often critically injured population. The book covers electrical burns, inhalation injury, chemical burns, and pediatric patient management. It also presents a full range of day-to-day management modalities along with sample orders and templates for patient presentation and the organization of notes. A quick-reference glossary includes many of the acronyms and abbreviations used in this setting as well as a list of useful equations and ranges. This book will help you provide better patient care while shortening your learning curve. It stands alone as the most convenient, practical, and informative guide available today for those working with burn patients.