Burn injury

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Many people have heard about the McDonald’s “hot coffee” spill lawsuit from 1994. That was one of the first cases to highlight the significant, life-threatening scalding injuries that can occur when hot beverages are spilled or consumed. Unfortunately, a recent case further illustrates the very real dangers and the often horrific injuries associated with the negligent service of hot beverages in restaurants.

A 6-year-old boy was having lunch with family members at a Chinese restaurant. During the meal, a server placed a pot of hot tea on the table’s lazy Susan. When the lazy Susan turned, the pot tipped over and spilled scalding tea onto the child, causing second degree and third degree burns to many different parts of his body. The child had to be transferred to a burn center where he underwent skin-graft procedures in which skin was harvested from uninjured parts of his body and grafted onto the burned areas. Unfortunately, the locations on his body used for skin donations failed to heal, and he required a second procedure that harvested skin from a different part of his body to cover the wound created by the first skin-graft. The damage caused by the skin-grafts nearly doubled the total body surface area that was damaged and injured in the spill incident at the restaurant.…

Continue Reading Beware Potential Burn Hazards at Restaurants

According to the American Burn Association, nearly half a million Americans suffer thermal burn injuries each year, resulting in approximately 40,000 hospitalizations and 3,400 deaths annually. Despite these alarming statistics, the survival rate is high. This is largely attributable to advances in research, medicine, and technology in the field of burn injury care.

Thermal burns can cause severe damage to the victim’s skin, requiring focused wound care, infection prevention, and even excision and skin grafts. Eschar excision and skin grafting has long been the standard of care. Skin grafting can be accomplished through different methods. An autograft is where skin from a donor site on the same patient is used. One benefit to the autograft is that there is no risk of rejection. However, the donor sites are painful. Moreover, autografts may not be feasible in the case of extensive burns covering large surface areas.…

Continue Reading Advances in Technology for Burn Injury Survivors