Treatment of Burns of the Hand with Silicone Dressing and Early Motion

PRELIMINARY REPORT

¹ From the Cora and Webb Mading Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery, Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston

Eight patients with severely burned hands were treated with continuous exposure to silicone fluid in non-permeable plastic bags. This non-immobilization technique permits finger motion, obviating, in part, permanent joint contractures and promoting a painless débridement. Graft take over full-thickness burn wounds was consistently excellent and residual limitation of joint motion in grafted hands was minimized. The technique appears especially suitable for treatment of burned hands in older patients in whom various degrees of permanent deformities are not infrequent. Where the burn depth is mixed and healing occurs spontaneously, the healed skin has almost normal texture and mobility. In our experience utilizing more conventional techniques, even hands with deep second-degree burns not infrequently had various degrees of permanent joint stiffness after healing. The results achieved by the method described suggest it is a worth-while addition to our armamentarium in burn therapy.

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