Epilepsy and full-thickness burns

This paper presents various aspects of severe burns involving epileptic patients, who may suffer dramatic accidents during seizure attacks. Epileptics may fall onto an open fire or hot surface (e.g. a kitchen range) and they may upset containers full of boiling liquids, suffering deep burns and scalds. In our experience in this field, the most commonly affected body areas are the face and hands, the trunk, and the lower limbs. All such injuries are full-thickness burns, owing to the very long contact of the skin surface with the lesional agent. Three cases are presented of epileptics with severe burns who were admitted to the Burn Unit of Targu Mures Teaching Hospital, Romania, where they were hospitalized; conservative debridement using polyurethanefoam (PUR-foam) dressings was the standard procedure, which all the patients received. Split-thickness skin grafting was the final method for closing the granulating bed resulting from the conservative debridement. We have found that conservative debridement using PUR-foam dressings is a cheaper and more reliable alternative than sharp debridement (which may remove healthy tissue at the same time as burn eschars).