Integration of burn treatment and rehabilitation for a child with extremely severe burn

This article reports the successful experience of integration of burn treatment and rehabilitation for a child suffering from 91% TBSA flame burn injury (with 60% TBSA full-thickness injury, 30% TBSA deep partial-thickness injury, and 1% TBSA superficial partial-thickness injury), severe inhalation injury, severe burn shock, stress ulcer, gastrointestinal bleeding and atelectasis of the right upper lung. The patient was given effective fluid infusion against shock, treatment for gastrointestinal bleeding, and other effective supportive treatment for functions of various organs after being admitted to our burn ward. When vital signs became stable at 30 hours post injury, bedside rehabilitation was begun. On post injury day (PID) 4, escharectomy was performed for both lower limbs, followed by microskin grafting and allogeneic skin covering. On PID 10, invasive infection of multi-drug resistant bacteria was found with accompanied high fever, and at the same time allograft began to disintegrate, with dissolution of large area of eschar, leading to a raw surface reaching 86% TBSA. Following debridement, dressing, application of compound polymyxin B ointment, temporary covering of wounds with porcine acellular dermal matrix, adjustment of antibiotics, patient's condition was finally stabilized. From PID 28 on, split-thickness skin grafting was conducted 7 times, and the raw surface of 75% TBSA involving the upper and lower limbs and trunk was successfully covered. At the same time, our rehabilitation team launched comprehensive rehabilitation measures comprising active exercise, occupational therapy, prevention of scar formation, organ function training and psychological intervention. Finally, the patient was able to walk unaided and fed herself when the wounds were almost entirely healed in 3 months after injury. Oriented forwards functional rehabilitation, strong cooperation between team members, and synchronous effective implementation of burn treatment and rehabilitation in the whole process are the keys to achieve successful integration of burn treatment and rehabilitation of this child.