engleski

Psychological problems in patients with burn injuries

SUMMARY Sustaining a burn injury is often a traumatic experience, with long-term physical and psychosocial effects. The objective of the authors was to analyse the recent literature regarding the prevalence of psychological problems in burn-injured patients as well as the optimal psychiatric treatment. Throughout case reports the authors described different clinical manifestations of these psychological problems. The recent literature suggests that the trauma of larger burn injuries can affect people in different ways: depression, regression, PTSD, anxiety and psychotic symptomatology are relatively common sequelae. A high percentage of burn patients have important predisposing factors for burn injuries, such as substance abuse, psychosis, organic brain syndromes and personality disorders, family dysfunction, or, in the case of burned children, frank neglect. The presence of psychiatric problems in burn patients has been found to have an impact of their burn care and long term adjustment. In case of the patients treated at the Clinic of Traumatology in Zagreb, all of them were hospitalized for more then three months because of the serious burn injuries (third degree). Most of them had previous psychological problems and during hospitalisation were treated with different psychotropic drugs. The first patient (M.P, male, age: 74) set herself on fire in a suicide attempt. Burns covered 45% of his body (total body surface area -TBSA). He died after 40 days of hospitalization. The second patient (E.Č., male, age: 59 ) developed depressive simptomatology (TBSA:40%). The third patient (A.D., male, age: 22) had a previous history of substance abuse. The manner in which the burn injury was sustained was hot water (TBSA 35%). The fourth patient (A.P., male, age: 63) suffered from alcohol dependence (TBSA:30%). The fifth patient (D.L., male, age:56) had a previous psychiatric history of psychotic disorder (TBSA:15%). Conclusion: In the process of monitoring and treatment of patients who suffer from burn injuries, psychological problems needs to be taken into account. In the holistic approach to the treatment of burn injured patients, psychiatric care is necessary to improve the health and the quality of life of these patients.

burns; comorbid psychotic symptomatology; psychopharmacotherapy

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