[PookRN]

Hey all...just wondering if anyone has seen this done or heard of it done before? We have a pt. who is young, but 90% full thickness burns. I think us nurses pretty much know the prognosis, but our "little man syndrome" ( sorry, obviously I can't stand him) attending says he can save him by culturing skin. I've only been an RN for 1 1/2 years (started on burn). I don't mean to be a pessimist, but has anyone seen survival w/ that bad a burn? Will the skin culturing really save him?

[shandsburnrn-SRNA]

Hi,

I've been a burn nurse about 3 years. We did a stint with culturing skin...long story short the cultured skin usually was of poor quality and more often failed than not. I think both Shriner's and Vanderbilt burn center have done some extensive research on cultured skin.

And to be honest with you, I don't how often your unit deals with pediatric burn that extensive but your surgeon may want to consider a transfer to Shriner's. If not, maybe an ethics consult should be called for. Seriously, I'm pround of the burn unit I work in and we do really amazing things for our patients both adult and peds...but Shriner's is the holy grail of pediatric burn care in my book.