health.mil

October 12, 2010

Researchers at the USAISR and the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX have successfully developed a new system for providing -providers with recommendations to better resuscitate burn casualties with large burns.

Mike Feeley
Public Affairs Officer
U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research
(210) 916-0859
E-mail: michael.feeley@amedd.army.mil

(Fort Sam Houston, Texas) – Treatment of severe burn injuries for wounded warriors is a cornerstone of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) and the U.S. Army Burn Center. As part of their tradition of developing new and innovative approaches for the care of civilian and military burn victims, researchers at the USAISR and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX have successfully developed a new system for providing -providers with recommendations to better resuscitate burn casualties with large burns.

Fluid resuscitation is one of the principal and most complex actions undertaken for casualties with large burns. Fluid resuscitation is immediately soon after injury and must be appropriately adjusted, usually on an hourly basis. Administration of either too much fluid or too little fluid may be associated with less than optimal outcomes; if a patient receives too much fluid, compartment syndromes may result in serious morbidity and even death. Conversely, if a patient receives too little fluid, other complications including renal failure may occur. Maintaining an appropriate fluid balance is a key to optimal resuscitation.

The Burn Resuscitation Decision Support System was designed to specifically assist acute care providers with recommendations for IV fluid rates to assist in providing patients with optimal fluid resuscitation during the initial 48 hours after the burn. The system has been used as a clinical decision support tool at the USAISR and the UTMB Blocker burn centers since 2007 in the resuscitation of patients with large burns.

“Decision support systems such as this one have the potential to change critical care medicine, not just for burns, but for many other types of injuries and diseases by providing real time bedside augmentation of medical expertise” said Dr. George Kramer, Director of the Resuscitation Laboratory, Dept. of Anesthesiology, UTMB and co-inventor of this system.

Preliminary analysis of the performance of the Burn Decision Support System suggests that it has improved burn resuscitation management in the USAISR burn center by reducing the volume of fluids given to patients while maintaining clinical goals..

Based on its successful use in the USAISR burn center, the U.S. Army Decision Gate Office has put the system into an accelerated acquisition track designed to develop a mobile version of the system that can be used by DoD providers deployed in support of overseas operations.. This accelerated acquisition approach will allow the DoD to field mobile burn resuscitation units that provide decision support for burn resuscitation from the combat support hospitals in the field and throughout the evacuation chain across the different echelons of care.

“Ideally, this system will be used on large burn patients as soon as they arrive in a field hospital and will remain with the patient as he or she is globally evacuated from the initial treatment facility to the USAISR Burn Center.” said Dr. Kevin Chung, Medical Director of the burn intensive care unit at the USAISR.

“Decision support systems and automation technology are critical to improving medicine. We hope this is just one of many future products that will help to improve the care of our critically injured Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines” said Dr. Jose Salinas, co-inventor and task area manager for Combat Critical Care Engineering at the USAISR.

For more information about the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, visit http://www.usaisr.amedd.army.mil

Health Care  |  burn care   USAISR