A major burn injury in a liver transplant patient

Iraklis Delikonstantinou, B. Philp, D. Kamel, D. Barnes, P. Dziewulski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Immunosuppressive therapy may aggravate the clinical course of a burned patient, primarily affecting wound healing and thus complicating permanent wound coverage. We hereby present the successful management of a 48-year-old female liver transplant recipient with a major burn injury, aiming to elucidate the effects of the patient’s immunosuppression on surgical treatment. After admission to the Burns ITU, the patient underwent serial debridement of the burn and coverage with cryopreserved allografts. Despite immunosuppression, no prolonged survival of the allo-epidermis was documented. Nevertheless, a variable degree of vascularized allo-dermis was clinically identified. She subsequently underwent skin autografting and was discharged home with most of the wounds healed. Although there are isolated reports of survival of skin allografts in immunocompromised patients, in our case the allografted skin did not provide permanent wound coverage. However, it permitted a staged surgical management, allowing the immunosuppressive regime to change, the skin donor sites to heal and it also provided a dermal scaffold for successful skin autografting.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)206-208
Number of pages3
JournalAnnals of Burns and Fire Disasters
Volume29
Issue number3
StatePublished - Sep 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Allografts
  • Burn injury
  • Immunosuppressive therapy
  • Liver transplant

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Emergency Medicine
  • Emergency
  • Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine

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