Implementation of an Enteral Resuscitation Bundle for the Moderate-sized Burn at Kirtipur Hospital, Nepal

Nepal and the South Asian sub-continent carry some of the highest rates of burn injury globally, with associated high morbidity and mortality. Nepal currently has one major center equipped for comprehensive burn care, in Kirtipur, Nepal, and receives patients who are referred from around the country. At the time of presentation, most patients with major burns have had minimal to no resuscitation on arrival, and often present hours to days after the burn injury was sustained. Timely fluid resuscitation, initiated as soon as possible after a major burn injury, is the main tenet of acute burn care. Lack of adequate resuscitation in major burn injuries leads to kidney injury, progression of burn injury, sepsis, burn shock, and death. The current standard of care for major burn resuscitation is intravenous fluid resuscitation. However, in low- and middle-income countries such as Nepal, adequately trained and equipped hospitals for the treatment of burn care are not widely available (for a variety of reasons). Additionally, there is no systematic emergency medical transport system available to provide medical care and resuscitation during transport. Enteral-based resuscitation-drinking or administering fluids via the gastrointestinal tract-with substances like the WHO Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) is recommended by burn experts and professional burn societies when resources and access to intravenous fluid resuscitation are not available. Studies have previously demonstrated the efficacy and safety of enteral-based resuscitation in controlled, high-resource settings, however, there have not been real-world effectiveness trials in resource-constrained settings. Therefore, the investigators seek to ultimately address the problem of pre-hospital and pre-burn center admission resuscitation by studying the effectiveness of enteral resuscitation with Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) in preventing burn shock. A recent feasibility and pilot study(n=30) of this Enteral-based implementation bundle (EResus) i.e., training resources, protocol, and toolkit were conducted. The pilot study allowed for protocol development and testing, established the feasibility, provided key insights into implementation and helped develop infrastructure and study standard operating procedures at the study site. With the current study, the investigators aim to expand the trial to a full effectiveness-implementation trial, which will allow to further hone the EResus protocol and bundle, generate more effective implementation strategies, and obtain a clearer understanding of efficacy and frequency of specific outcomes.

This study examines enteral-based resuscitation (i.e. enteral with/without IV Fluids) versus enhanced standard of care IV Fluids for the treatment of major burn injuries. The intervention portion of the study will entail randomization of patients presenting with acute burn injuries of 15-40% total body surface area (TBSA) to an enteral-based resuscitation versus the standard of care IV fluid resuscitation. The intervention will continue through the acute resuscitation period.

The primary study variables will include measures of urine output, vital signs, planned and administered resuscitation volumes, and routes of resuscitation along with frequency, timing, and treatment of any gastrointestinal symptomology, and serious adverse events such as kidney injury and aspiration events

Further, there will be a qualitative component to the study with focus group discussions of the bedside healthcare providers (doctors and nurses) caring for the enrolled patients, in order to understand the challenges and facilitators of enteral resuscitation. In-depth interviews will be conducted with enrolled patients and their families to further understand the patient perception, experience and challenges and facilitators. Qualitative analysis will be done to understand the major themes of challenges and facilitators to enteral resuscitation.