Effectiveness of Physiotherapeutic Interventions in a Post-Surgical Burn Patient - A Case Study

Introduction: Burn injuries are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. In India, the figure constitutes about one-fourth of the total burn accidents. Burn injuries can lead to scar tissue formation that further leads to functional limitations. Each paediatric burn case is unique, and a tailored approach is necessary for effective physiotherapy management. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the effects of physiotherapeutic interventions on range of motion, scar quality, pain and anxiety in post-surgical patient with a 20% second degree superficial partial-thickness flame burn. Case Presentation: A 9-years old female patient, admitted to Plastic surgery and Burn Unit, was recruited for the study. She had undergone skin grafting following the burn. Physiotherapeutic interventions were provided in two phases over 8 weeks, including exercises adjunct with ultrasound therapy and application of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for 8 weeks lasted the treatment session for 60 minutes. The outcome measures used in this study were range of motion of following joints- right shoulder, right elbow joint and left shoulder joint, scores of Vancouver scar scale and scores of specific burn pain and anxiety scale. The assessments were taken at pre intervention 0 week, mid-intervention 4th and 8th week post intervention. Results and Conclusion: The findings of this study showed improvements in ROM of affected joint- right shoulder joint and right elbow joint and left shoulder joint, scar tissue quality, pain and anxiety reduction. Further research is needed to establish the relationship and determine optimal interventions for burn subjects. This study concluded the effectiveness of physiotherapy in burn rehabilitation.