Initial wound care idioms were designed around a moist dressing in presumed better wound healing. As wound care advances, innovations of dressings were formed. In the Guru-UKM Method (GUM), we combined two well-established dressings producing a synergistic effect in burn wound management. Patients with deep partial thickness burns were selected for the GUM. From the time of admission, they receive 2 cycles of paraffin tulle dressings once every two days to allow demarcation, then are reassessed for suitability of the GUM technique. We discuss 7 different burn cases that presented to our Burn Unit from January 2014 – June 2015.All dressings should create a suitable moist environment for healing, yet should be a painless dressing to help the patient return to normal function as soon as possible. In burn wounds, a suitable dressing ideally also biochemically debrides fibrin and softens hardened eschar and slough, without necessitating the patient to undergo general anaesthesia and surgical debridement. The Guru-UKM Method is a combination dressing technique that facilitates optimal burn wound management.
This was a case of a young lady presenting with 10 year history of a mass in the right eye. It was found to be an adenocarcinoma of the lacrimal gland from histopathological biopsy. She underwent wide excision, orbital exenteration and reconstruction with a free rectus abdominis flap. Unfortunately, she had a tumour recurrence which was not controlled by radiotherapy and a second excision. The behavior of the tumour was aggressive, resulting in widespread metastases. She passed away within a year of her presentation. Of note, the histopathology report from the second excision turned out to be sarcomatoid carcinoma. This is described in the literature as dedifferentiation, or high grade transformation (HGT). Occurrence of dedifferentiation in salivary gland tumours is well-established, but not as well-described in lacrimal gland tumours. In this case, there was a severely delayed presentation of a lacrimal gland adenocarcinoma in a young person, which underwent dedifferentiation into a sarcomatoid carcinoma. This phenomena is associated with aggressive tumour biology behavior and poor prognosis, despite surgery and radiotherapy.
Basal cell carcinoma is the commonest skin malignancy diagnosed in Malaysia. Surgery is the recommended treatment of choice with the lowest failure rate provided a clear margin is obtained. However, the defect may be too large to be repaired primarily. Formal reconstruction using grafts and flaps should be done to achieve the optimal aim of maintaining the integrity, function and cosmetic patient outcome. Three reconstructive methods are described in this series to restore the facial defect following the wide local excision. The procedures described were peri-alar crescentic advancement flap, nasolabial rotational flap and full thickness skin graft using supraclavicular skin. This series highlights the usage of the procedures based on solid foundation and principles, without compromising the desired outcomes for the patient.