Dubai: Serious burns covering a large skin surface which are a common form of injury worldwide can be treated effectively without reopening the wounds and draining the blisters.
So contends a new research paper that has earned a UAE-based doctor from NMC Speciality Hospital in Abu Dhabi the APSICON2010 Research Award for 2014 at the 49th Annual Conference of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (ASPI).
Results of Dr Venka Ratnam’s groundbreaking research were published in the Journal of Wound Care and Research, Volume 5 augmenting the UAE’s status in the field of medical research.
It is common to find these fluid-filled pockets — or ‘blebs’ — in first or second- degree burns, but despite extensive medical research, the best treatment for these blisters is still much debated.
Following new methodology of not opening up these wounds to drain fluids and exposing open wounds to infections, Dr Ratnam’s researched about 112 burn victims and concluded that blisters were best left alone as they acted as natural band-aids protecting the burn injury. He also discovered that healing was qualitatively far superior in areas protected by blistered skin and that blisters helped simplify wound care in burns cases.
This scientific breakthrough has the potential to change future treatment of burn wounds across the world, as well as put the UAE on the map for pioneering medical research, the paper claimed.
