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The Nursing Clinics of North America Dec 2020Clinical aromatherapy is an alternative medicine therapy that can be beneficial in the inpatient or outpatient setting for symptom management for pain, nausea, general... (Review)
Review
Clinical aromatherapy is an alternative medicine therapy that can be beneficial in the inpatient or outpatient setting for symptom management for pain, nausea, general well-being, anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia. It is beneficial for preoperative anxiety, oncology, palliative care, hospice, and end of life. Essential oils can be dangerous and toxic, with some being flammable, causing skin dermatitis, being phototoxic with risk of a chemical burn, or causing oral toxicity or death. The article investigates history, supporting theories, guidelines, plant sources, safety, pathophysiologic responses, and clinical nursing aromatherapy. Recommendations for developing a best practice clinical nursing aromatherapy program are provided.
Topics: Anxiety Disorders; Aromatherapy; Humans; Oils, Volatile; Pain; Pain Management
PubMed: 33131627
DOI: 10.1016/j.cnur.2020.06.015 -
British Journal of Hospital Medicine... Mar 2022Chemical burns represent a small number of burn injuries in the UK. They have the potential to be life-threatening with serious aesthetic and functional consequences,... (Review)
Review
Chemical burns represent a small number of burn injuries in the UK. They have the potential to be life-threatening with serious aesthetic and functional consequences, accounting for 30% of all deaths from burns. Chemical burns are caused by corrosive agents (acids and alkali) leading to extensive tissue damage. Understanding the pathophysiology of a chemical burn injury and identifying the nature of the offending agent is important for effective management. Prompt assessment and management of chemical injuries is vital to reduce the deleterious effect of the compound involved. This article reviews the pathophysiology of a chemical injury and the management of these burns.
Topics: Burns, Chemical; Humans
PubMed: 35377199
DOI: 10.12968/hmed.2020.0056 -
American Journal of Physiology. Cell... Jul 2021Critical illnesses, including sepsis, cancer cachexia, and burn injury, invoke a milieu of systemic metabolic and inflammatory derangements that ultimately results in... (Review)
Review
Critical illnesses, including sepsis, cancer cachexia, and burn injury, invoke a milieu of systemic metabolic and inflammatory derangements that ultimately results in increased energy expenditure leading to fat and lean mass catabolism. Burn injuries present a unique clinical challenge given the magnitude and duration of the hypermetabolic response compared with other forms of critical illness, which drastically increase the risk of morbidity and mortality. Skeletal muscle metabolism is particularly altered as a consequence of burn-induced hypermetabolism, as it primarily provides a main source of fuel in support of wound healing. Interestingly, muscle catabolism is sustained long after the wound has healed, indicating that additional mechanisms beyond wound healing are involved. In this review, we discuss the distinctive pathophysiological response to burn injury with a focus on skeletal muscle function and metabolism. We first examine the diverse consequences on skeletal muscle dysfunction between thermal, electrical, and chemical burns. We then provide a comprehensive overview of the known mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle dysfunction that may be attributed to hypermetabolism. Finally, we review the most promising current treatment options to mitigate muscle catabolism, and by extension improve morbidity and mortality, and end with future directions that have the potential to significantly improve patient care.
Topics: Burns; Cachexia; Epigenesis, Genetic; Exercise; Human Growth Hormone; Humans; Insulin; Metformin; Muscle Proteins; Muscle, Skeletal; Muscular Atrophy; Oxandrolone; Propranolol; Protein Biosynthesis; Proteolysis; Sepsis; Signal Transduction; Wound Healing
PubMed: 33909503
DOI: 10.1152/ajpcell.00106.2021 -
Eye (London, England) Sep 2019Ocular chemical injuries vary in severity, with the more severe end of the spectrum having profound visual consequences and medicolegal implications. Grading of ocular... (Review)
Review
Ocular chemical injuries vary in severity, with the more severe end of the spectrum having profound visual consequences and medicolegal implications. Grading of ocular injuries is critical for determining acute treatment and visual prognosis. Poor immediate management results in more challenging treatment of acute disease. Similarly, poorly controlled acute disease results in more treatment-resistant chronic ocular disease. Despite several decades of research and public health initiatives, simple and effective interventions such as wearing protective eyewear and immediate irrigation of eyes remain as key challenges. Education and prevention are therefore important public health messages. Hurdles in the acute management of disease include poor evidence-base for commonly used treatments (e.g. based on experimental animal studies), reduced treatment adherence rates and high clinic non-attendance rates. The evolution of treatment strategies, particularly limbal stem cell transplantation, has revolutionised the visual and cosmetic outcomes in chronic phases of disease. It is therefore increasingly important to consider tertiary referral for patients with limbal stem cell failure or vision-limiting corneal scarring.
Topics: Acids; Alkalies; Animals; Burns, Chemical; Eye Burns; Humans
PubMed: 31086244
DOI: 10.1038/s41433-019-0456-5 -
Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine Oct 2020Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid is a particular form of mucous membrane pemphigoid and it is characterized by a chronic bilateral conjunctivitis with relapsing-remitting... (Review)
Review
Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid is a particular form of mucous membrane pemphigoid and it is characterized by a chronic bilateral conjunctivitis with relapsing-remitting periods. Without therapy 75% of the cases develop visual loss due to major ocular complications (e.g. severe dry-eye syndrome, corneal erosions, corneal keratinization, entropion, symblepharon). Pathogenesis remains uncertain and probably linked to an autoimmune type II hypersensitivity response in patients with a genetic predisposition and exposure to different environmental triggers. With a worldwide distribution, no racial predilection and an estimated incidence that largely varies from 1/10,000-1/60,000, ocular cicatricial pemphigoid predominantly affects women aged ~60 years. Conjunctival biopsy with direct immunofluorescence is the gold standard in diagnosis confirmation, but up to 40% of the patients have a negative biopsy result that does not rule out the diagnosis. The skin and many other mucous membranes (e.g. oral, trachea, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, urethra, vagina and anus) may be involved. The disease grading relies on Foster staging system (based on clinical signs) and Mondino and Brown system (based on the inferior fornix depth loss). The differential diagnosis includes atopy, allergies, trauma, chemical burns, radiation, neoplasia, infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune etiologies. The main goals of the treatment are to stop disease progression, to relieve symptoms and to prevent complications. With long-term systemic therapy 90% of the cases can be efficiently controlled. While Dapsone is the first-line treatment in mild to moderate disease in patients without G6PD deficiency, more severe cases require immunosuppressant therapy with azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate or cyclosporine. Cyclophosphamide, biologics (etanercept or rituximab) and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy are usually reserved for recalcitrant disease and unsatisfactory results to conventional therapy. Dry eye syndrome requires constant lubricating medication and topical steroids, cyclosporine-A and tacrolimus. Surgery should be planed only in quiescent phase as minor conjunctival trauma can significantly worsen the disease.
PubMed: 32905166
DOI: 10.3892/etm.2020.8972 -
Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and... Apr 2023Losartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) that impedes transforming growth factor (TGF) beta signaling by inhibiting activation of signal transduction... (Review)
Review
Losartan is an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) that impedes transforming growth factor (TGF) beta signaling by inhibiting activation of signal transduction molecule extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). Studies supported the efficacy of topical losartan in decreasing scarring fibrosis after rabbit Descemetorhexis, alkali burn, and photorefractive keratectomy injuries, and in case reports of humans with scarring fibrosis after surgical complications. Clinical studies are needed to explore the efficacy and safety of topical losartan in the prevention and treatment of corneal scarring fibrosis, and other eye diseases and disorders where TGF beta has a role in pathophysiology. These include scarring fibrosis associated with corneal trauma, chemical burns, infections, surgical complications, and persistent epithelial defects, as well as conjunctival fibrotic diseases, such as ocular cicatricial pemphigoid and Stevens-Johnson syndrome. Research is also needed to explore the efficacy and safety of topical losartan for hypothesized treatment of transforming growth factor beta-induced ()-related corneal dystrophies (Reis-Bu¨cklers corneal dystrophy, lattice corneal dystrophy type 1, and granular corneal dystrophies type 1 and type 2) where deposited mutant protein expression is modulated by TGF beta. Investigations could also explore the efficacy and safety of topical losartan treatments to reduce conjunctival bleb scarring and shunt encapsulation following glaucoma surgical procedures. Losartan and sustained release drug delivery devices could be efficacious in treating intraocular fibrotic diseases. Dosing suggestions and precautions that should be considered in trials of losartan are detailed. Losartan, as an adjuvant to current treatments, has the potential to augment pharmacological therapeutics for many ocular diseases and disorders where TGF beta plays a central role in pathophysiology.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Rabbits; Losartan; Cicatrix; Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary; Eye Diseases; Fibrosis; Transforming Growth Factor beta; Corneal Injuries
PubMed: 36877777
DOI: 10.1089/jop.2022.0174 -
International Journal of Molecular... Nov 2023According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 11 million people suffer from burns every year, and 180,000 die from them. A burn is a condition in which heat,... (Review)
Review
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 11 million people suffer from burns every year, and 180,000 die from them. A burn is a condition in which heat, chemical substances, an electrical current or other factors cause tissue damage. Burns mainly affect the skin, but can also affect deeper tissues such as bones or muscles. When burned, the skin loses its main functions, such as protection from the external environment, pathogens, evaporation and heat loss. Depending on the stage of the burn, the patient's condition and the cause of the burn, we need to choose the most appropriate treatment. Personalization and multidisciplinary collaboration are key to the successful management of burn patients. In this comprehensive review, we have collected and discussed the available treatment options, focusing on recent advances in topical treatments, wound cleansing, dressings, skin grafting, nutrition, pain and scar tissue management.
Topics: Humans; Wound Healing; Skin; Skin Transplantation; Bandages; Burns
PubMed: 38003548
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216357 -
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Apr 2023Dry eye disease (DED) is prevalent in all age groups and is known to cause chronic ocular discomfort and pain, and greatly affects the quality of life. Patients with... (Review)
Review
Dry eye disease (DED) is prevalent in all age groups and is known to cause chronic ocular discomfort and pain, and greatly affects the quality of life. Patients with ocular surface disease (OSD) may also have reduced tear secretion due to lacrimal gland damage, thus leading to aqueous deficient DED. Even with conventional management modalities such as lubricating eyedrops, topical corticosteroids, autologous serum eyedrops, or punctal plugs, many patients continue to suffer from debilitating symptoms. Contact lenses are increasingly being used in OSD providing surface hydration, protection from environmental insults, mechanical damage from abnormal lids, and as a modality for constant drug delivery to the ocular surface. This review describes the role of soft lenses and rigid gas-permeable scleral lenses in the management of DED associated with OSD. The efficacy of contact lenses, lens selection, and optimal lens fit are reviewed for specific indications.
Topics: Humans; Quality of Life; Dry Eye Syndromes; Contact Lenses; Lacrimal Apparatus; Ophthalmic Solutions
PubMed: 37026246
DOI: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_2778_22 -
Translational Vision Science &... Jul 2022To evaluate the efficacy of losartan and prednisolone acetate in inhibiting corneal scarring fibrosis after alkali burn injury in rabbits.
PURPOSE
To evaluate the efficacy of losartan and prednisolone acetate in inhibiting corneal scarring fibrosis after alkali burn injury in rabbits.
METHODS
Sixteen New Zealand White rabbits were included. Alkali injuries were produced using 1N sodium hydroxide on a 5-mm diameter Whatman #1 filter paper for 1 minute. Four corneas in each group were treated six times per day for 1 month with 50 µL of (1) 0.8 mg/mL losartan in balanced salt solution (BSS), (2) 1% prednisolone acetate, (3) combined 0.8 mg/mL losartan and 1% prednisolone acetate, or (4) BSS. Area of opacity and total opacity were analyzed in standardized slit-lamp photos with ImageJ. Corneas in both groups were cryofixed in Optimal cutting temperature (OCT) compound at 1 month after surgery, and immunohistochemistry was performed for alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and keratocan or transforming growth factor β1 and collagen type IV with ImageJ quantitation.
RESULTS
Combined topical losartan and prednisolone acetate significantly decreased slit-lamp opacity area and intensity, as well as decreased stromal myofibroblast α-SMA area and intensity of staining per section and confined myofibroblasts to only the posterior stroma with repopulation of the anterior and mid-stroma with keratocan-positive keratocytes after 1 month of treatment. Corneal fibroblasts produced collagen type IV not associated with basement membranes, and this production was decreased by topical losartan.
CONCLUSIONS
Combined topical losartan and prednisolone acetate decreased myofibroblast-associated fibrosis after corneal alkali burns that produced full-thickness injury, including corneal endothelial damage. Increased dosages and duration of treatment may further decrease scarring fibrosis.
TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE
Topical losartan and prednisolone acetate decrease myofibroblast-mediated scarring fibrosis after corneal injury.
Topics: Adrenal Cortex Hormones; Alkalies; Animals; Burns, Chemical; Cicatrix; Collagen Type IV; Corneal Diseases; Corneal Injuries; Fibrosis; Losartan; Myofibroblasts; Rabbits
PubMed: 35819289
DOI: 10.1167/tvst.11.7.9