Spincare dressing in Burns care

What is the Spincare system?

Spincare™ is a type of dressing we use to cover your child’s burn.

It is very thin and flexible, and allows fluid to pass through but will keep your child’s wound protected and clean. It sticks to the wound like a second skin and will peel off as the wound heals.

The benefit of this special dressing is, that it covers the exposed nerve endings and therefore reduces the pain caused by the burn. We can see the wound through the Spincare and make sure the wound is healing as we expect. Its flexibility means your child can move easily and do the exercises the physiotherapist or occupational therapist has given them.

How is it applied?

The application of the Spincare is painless. It is sprayed on the wound from a special device (that looks a little bit like a water pistol).

If your child has a larger burn, they may go to theatre and have an anaesthetic for their wounds to be cleaned and dressed. We can apply the Spincare in theatre.

If the wound is smaller or your child is older, they may be able to have their wound cleaned on the ward (with oral pain relief). We can then apply the Spincare on the ward. Your child will need to stay fairly still for this, and we will have lots of distraction available either by the nurses or the play specialist.

What will be covering the Spincare?

If the Spincare is applied within the first 48 hours after the burn injury, your child will have a special absorbent dressing applied and secured with a bandage.

If it is after 48 hours when the Spincare is applied, then a simple gauze and bandage dressing will be applied.

After 1 or 2 days, these dressings will be removed and the Spincare will be checked. After this, your child will have to wear a special vest or tights. Any patches where the Spincare may not have taken will be covered with a different dressing.

The vest or tights will need changing every 24 hours or sooner if it becomes very dirty. You will be given spares to wash one, dry one and wear one at home.

Cleaning

48 hours after the Spincare is applied, your child will be assessed on the burns unit. After this they can have shower or bath at home.

You can wash gently with soap on your hand and rinse but do not rub with face cloths or sponges.

Gently dry the Spincare after cleaning by dabbing with a soft, clean towel. Put the vest or tights back on your child.

Please take a photo of the Spincare before and after washing and email this to scn-tr.burns.dressings@nhs.net.

Care of Spincare

Do not let your child pick or peel the Spincare off. Make sure it is well-covered by light clothing, so your child is less likely to fiddle with it.

You will have been given some medicine to help your child if they are itchy as they heal. It important to give this regularly as prescribed.

If you are worried about the Spincare then please take a photo and email it to scn-tr.burns.dressings@nhs.net.

If you require urgent advice, please call the Burns Staff on Ward 2, 0114 271 7000.

Infection

Please watch your child for any signs of infection, including:

• loss of appetite
• high temperature
• being or feeling sick
• diarrhoea
• very tired
• increase in pain from the wound area
• redness and swelling around the wound or affected limb
• increasing leakage from the dressing
• unpleasant smell from the dressing that you have not noticed before

Please call us immediately for advice if you are worried, we will arrange for you to come in if necessary and see a doctor, come with your overnight things as you and your child may need to be admitted.

Nutrition 

It is important that your child eats lots of dairy and protein while their burn heals. This helps the skin to regenerate and your child’s burn to heal as quickly as possible.  

School and nursery 

The burns team will let you know when it is safe for your child to return to school or nursery. Please discuss with them if your child has any special circumstances that you think means they should go to school, we will assess if it is safe for them to go back to school earlier.

Healing

We will see your child on the burns unit regularly to make sure they are healing as we expect.

When the matrix starts to dry, it is an indication that your wound underneath is healing. The Spincare matrix peels off by itself when the wound is healed. Please do not actively peel the dry matrix.

You can use a moisturizer over the Spincare layer, at this stage the nurses will tell you when you can start doing this. Apply it very gently.