Table 6.
Findings and significance of the top 10 most cited site-specific papers (web of science, accessed August 24, 2015
| Topic | Title (Author/Journal) | Finding/Significance (#Citations) |
|---|---|---|
| Pain | Use of virtual reality for adjunctive treatment of adult burn pain during physical therapy: a controlled study (Hoffman et al./The Clinical Journal of Pain)45 | Demonstrates the efficacy of virtual reality as a nonpharmacologic pain reduction technique during physical therapy as well as the potential for other methods of distraction in burn recovery (214 citations) |
| Burn Physiology | Pathophysiologic response to severe burn injury (Jeschke et al./Annals of Surgery)46 | Examines the pathophysiologic response to burn injury in a large prospective clinical trial which included 242 pediatric burn patients (TBSA >30%). Serum hormones and cytokine expression profile, organ function, hypermetabolism, muscle protein synthesis, incidence of wound infection sepsis, and body composition were obtained throughout acute hospital course. Hypermetabolism, muscle protein loss, lean body mass loss, bone mineral content loss, abnormal cardiac function, insulin resistance, and hyperinflammation were all clearly demonstrated to be profound post burn responses (230 citations) |
| Pain | Effectiveness of virtual reality-based pain control with multiple treatments (Hoffman et al./The Clinical Journal of Pain)47 | Provides additional evidence of the analgesic effects of virtual reality and suggests that virtual reality does not diminish in effectiveness with repeated use. These findings extend our understanding of how best to utilize virtual reality in clinical practice with acute procedure-related burn pain (202 citations) |
| Rehab/functional outcomes/scar | Burn rehabilitation: state of the science (Esselman et al./American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation)48 | A comprehensive systematic review of 352 studies in the burn rehabilitation literature with level of evidence grading and recommendations, identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses in the burn rehabilitation literature and areas for future research (205 citations) |
| Psychology | Personality predictors of injury-related PTSD (Fauerbach et al./The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease)49 | Demonstrates that variation in personality structure is associated with a relative susceptibility to the development of PTSD and therefore has implications as to a possible modulatory relationship between personality traits and PTSD onset (183 citations) |
| Rehab/functional outcomes/scar therapy | What is the prevalence of hypertrophic scarring following burns (Bombaro et al./Burns)50 | An investigation which revealed the lack of quality data regarding the prevalence of hypertrophic scarring after burn injuries, frequently referenced in studies looking at best practices for both treatment and prevention of hypertrophic scars (153 citations) |
| Burn pathophysiology, hypermetabolism | Burn size determines the inflammatory and hypermetabolic response (Jeschke et al./Critical Care)51 | Demonstrates that morbidity and mortality in pediatric burn patients is burn size dependent starting at 60% TBSA, and is due to increased hypermetabolic reactions, hyperinflammatory reactions, and impaired cardiac function (137 citations) |
| Burn pathophysiology | Respiratory management of inhalation injury (Mlcak et al./Burns)52 | A general review of the diagnosis and management of inhalation injury (132 citations) |
| Rehab/functional outcomes/scar | Effect of a 12-week resistance exercise program on skeletal muscle strength in children with burn injuries (Suman et al./Journal of Applied Physiology)53 | Demonstrates that participation in a resistance exercise program significantly improves muscle strength, power, and lean body mass (120 citations) |
| Psychology | The 2003 clinical research award: Visible vs. hidden scars and their relation to body esteem (Lawrence et al./Journal of Burn Care & Research)54 | Reports the results of a burn survivor questionnaire. Demonstrates a correlation between visible scarring and different aspects of body esteem. Burn scar visibility and severity did not have a strong correlation with social and emotional adjustment variables (112 citations) |
PTSD, Post traumatic stress disorder.