Citation

Hartl G, Fletchall S, Velamuri SR. J. Burn Care Res. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, American Burn Association, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1093/jbcr/irad112

PMID

37586822

Abstract

We appreciate the Letter to the Editor that was received in response to our article “Burn Injury Cutaneous Functional Units: Allocating Occupational Therapy Resources and Influencing Practice,” as our article was intended to be an initial step in applying cutaneous functional units (CFUs)––particularly in the context of adult burn survivors with hand and upper extremity burns––as a tool to inform occupational therapy practice as well as advocate for increased therapy services. We agree with the authors of the letter that consistency in quantifying, documenting, and understanding how to apply CFUs is needed to implement best practices among therapists, further advocate for increased therapy services, and maximize reimbursement from payors. However, how to quantify or map the CFUs of the hand is not well documented, researched, or consistently applied. The complexity of the soft tissue structures, unique skin folds over the joints in the digits, and the hand’s unique planes of motion (particularly for digit one) may not appropriately fit into the 1:1 movement-to-CFU ratio model as presented by the authors of the response letter, a direction of further research that was suggested within the original literature identifying CFUs.1 To best understand how to apply the concept of CFUs to the function, movement, and structures of the hand, certified hand therapists with extensive experience in burn rehabilitation should be consulted and encouraged to participate in current research as well as publish additional original research in order to most fully and accurately quantify CFUs present within the dorsal and palmar aspects of the hand. We look forward to being a part of the conversation surrounding CFUs and their applications in practice, and to provide additional avenues of research that are needed to further the application of CFUs within burn rehabilitation therapy ...

Language: en