Objectives: To review advances in burns care in Hong Kong over the past five years and compare these with global advances. Methods: Global advances have been summarized from literature reviews and current practices detailed from published and ongoing local studies. Results: Hong Kong is providing a world class burns service and makes a significant contribution to evolving clinical practice on a global scale. Conclusions: Burns care is continually evolving and survival per se is not the significant challenge it was in previous decades. The emphasis remains on burns prevention but in the event of injuries occurring, quality of survival is the key issue which involves prompt and appropriate acute care, effective reconstruction and holistic rehabilitation.
Burning charcoal in an enclosed space is now the second most-common method of committing suicide in Hong Kong. When the suicide is unsuccessful, the patients can still sustain extensive tissue destruction from both direct and indirect thermal burns. We report a series of three patients who sustained deep injuries that, after débridement, left exposed bones and joints needing acute coverage. Free tissue transfer was required in each case to close the wounds. This short series illustrates the extensive destruction that can occur from both contact burns and radiant heat injury and the reconstructive challenges that can result. Of particular note was that serial débridment was necessary in the radiant heat injury because of the evolving and more extensive nature of the wound.
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