Question

Case Scenario:

Mr S. is is a 38-year-old patient who has been admitted it to the burn center with full thickness burns over 50% of his body. He was working on the truck when he caught fire, trapping him. He has no prior health issues, except for possibly alcoholism. The specialist gave beginning orders of IV therapy or lactated ringer running wide-open, pain medications, constant monitoring her blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and lab work every two hours.

Question: How might alcoholism be a problem with his current condition? Include in your answer specific facts, data, examples, and other information drawn from your textbook and at least one other supplemental source.

Answer 1

In this case, the patient, Mr. S who is admitted to the burn center with full-thickness burns over 50% of his body, is an alcoholic. Burns patients who are alcoholics have had a high mortality rate compared to that of nonalcoholics. They were not only found to have a mortality rate three times that of nonalcoholic burns patients (p = 0.001), but most of them also died from comparatively smaller non-serious burns (p less than 0.05). The alcoholic patients who survived needed more IV antibiotics and a longer period of hospitalization. Alcoholic burns patients also have increased susceptibility to infection other than delayed wound healing and a lengthy hospital stay. Considering all these, alcoholism is a major issue in Mr. S’s case preventing a quick recovery.