The American Burn Association (ABA) released the Clinical Practice Guideline: Early Mobilization and Rehabilitation of Critically Ill Burn Patients via publication in the Journal of Burn Care and Research (JBCR).
Researchers focused on the use of systematic or protocolized interventions that could include muscle activation, active exercises in bed, active resistance exercises, active side-to-side turning, or mobilization to sitting at the bedside, standing, or walking, including mobilization using assistance with hoists or tilt tables.
“This is the first Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) produced by the newly formed ad hoc CPG committee and it represents the start of a large ambitious program for the development of many new ABA CPGs,” said President-Elect Robert Cartotto, MD, FRCS(C). “The overarching goal is to ensure harmonization between CPGs, the ABA’s Burn Care Quality Platform and Burn Registry, and ABA verification standards.”
This CPG will be of most use to nurses, physicians, and rehabilitation therapists who provide care to critically ill patients in the burn-ICU.
It is conditionally recommended that early mobilization and rehabilitation (EMR) be considered in critically ill burn patients in the ICU to reduce ICUAW and delirium. No recommendation could be formed regarding the outcomes of HAPI development or skin graft loss. Despite the relatively “weak” recommendations and need for further study, burn care facilities may wish to collect and compare data on certain benchmarks to measure the use of EMR for burn-ICU patients.
The Clinical Practice Guideline: Early Mobilization and Rehabilitation of Critically Ill Burn Patients is available through the JBCR website for the public.
