Miss Andrea Mc Kittrick¹, Ms  Amber  Jones¹, Ms  Laura  Kane¹, Dr Jason Brown¹

¹Royal Brisbane And Women’s Hospital, Herston, Australia

Abstract:

Background

Burn injuries to the axilla which require surgical wound repair are complex to manage (Lopez, Bohanon et al., 2018) and require intensive rehabilitation to prevent long term contractures and return to function (Serghiou, Ott et al., 2012; Webb, Byrne et al., 2011).  Burn scar contractures can develop in this area and may result in a loss of daily activities such as brushing one’s hair, putting on clothing or reaching into an overhead cupboard  (Edgar, 2014). A scoping review completed in 2021 founds 85% of the included studies focused on positioning and splinting post burn injury with limited information pertaining to therapy interventions and functional outcomes post burn injury. Therefore, this study aims to address this practice gap.

Methods

This study was a retrospective audit of individuals who were managed at The Professor Pegg Adult Burns Service at RBWH from 2017 -2021

Results

n= 29 files included in the audit period. Males were more dominant (25:4). The range of TBSA burns 0.5% – 86%. The average age was 40.93 years.  34.5% had full thickness burns and 20.7% had deep dermal burns to their axilla. FIM scores increased from admission to discharge.

Discussion

Burn injuries to the axilla have the potential to reduce participation in all activities of daily living. At our facility splinting is required for a minimal period compared to the published evidence (Serghiou, Ott et al., 2012; Webb, Byrne et al., 2011) this did not negatively impact their long-term burn scar or functional outcomes.

Biography:

Andrea Mc Kittrick is the Advanced Specialist Occupational Therapist at RBWH. She is the chair of the ANZBA Allied Health committee and the International Society of Burn Injury Rehabilitation Committee. She holds academic positions at UQ and ACU. She is passionate about collaborating to improve long term outcomes post burns.