Physiotherapy & Physical Rehabilitation

Treatment of burned patient represents a great challenge until today involving the active participation of many professionals constituting a true multidisciplinary body, whole ultimate goal is to save life, preserve functional activity and bring the patient back to social life. The burn is an injury whose cicatricial evolution is done anarchically and with great potential for sequelae, early-initiated physiotherapy treatment these sequelae prior its installation or formation of scar retractions. The purpose of this work is to present a case report of early mobilization of burn injury in hands, an extremity of body with a complex mobility. This study was conduct at burn unit of Santa Casa Hospital, in Santos, where we evaluated a patient who suffered a chemical burn in both hands, corresponding to a 5% of the burned surface according to international schema of Lund-Browdec and second and third burn degree depth were observed, without respiratory injury or other associated traumas. After evaluation of joint integrity and function as well as the burned surface, the physical therapy intervention was started with three interventions a day since first day of hospital internment, consisting of passive mobilization followed by active movement to stimulate the functionality. During the night it was oriented the use of positional ortheses. After three weeks, the granulation tissue was fit for skin grafting surgery and after this procedure the physiotherapy procedures remained one week interrupted. After two months the ambulatory follow-up was carried out, characterizing the final phase of rehabilitation process. We conclude that the precocious mobilization, even in a complex part of the body like hands, contributes to reduce scar complication and preserve the function allowing the quick return to daily activities with less complication and improving quality of life after lesion.