Surgical perspective of enzymatic debridement outcomes in major burns

Abstract

Background and objective. Use of enzymatic debridement has demonstrated be fast and efficient after its application over burn wounds, being more delicate over healthy tissue. Its use in burns under 15% TBSA has shown less grafting procedures, bleeding and surgical escharotomies. The aim of this study was compare 2 groups of major burns; one treated by enzymatic debridement and other treated by standard of care. Length of stay, escharotomies, time until debridement, use of blood packs and number of surgeries during hospitalization were evaluated. Methods. A retrospective cohort study was designed with 197 patients (TBSA 20-50%), older than 18 years old, treated between 2012 and 2017, and divided in 2 groups: 32 patients were debrided using Nexobrid®, and 165 patients were included in the control group. Both groups were homogeneous for TBSA, age, gender, mechanism and comorbidities index. Results. Mean age was 48.4±19.4 years, with a 29.5±9.4% of TBSA. A reduction of the number of days until the burns debridement were found, with 5.1±4.9 in the control group and 0.8±0.9 days in the enzymatic debridement group (p<0.05). The number of surgeries during the hospitalization were less in the Nexobrid® group, with a reduction of 2.6±2.1 surgeries to 1.9±2.0. The number of blood packs was a 95% lower in the enzymatic debridement, and a 60% less escharotomies were observed. Finally, a shorter length of stay in the intensive care unit were found in the Nexobrid® group, with 36% less days, this difference were statistically significant. Conclusions. Early application of enzymatic debridement in major burns (20-50% TBSA) allows a complete removal of eschar reducing the blood packs use, number of surgeries, escharotomies and length of stay in the intensive care unit.