OBJECTIVE: Hypoalbuminemia is a common clinical deficiency in burn patients and is associated with complications related to increased extravascular fluid, including edema, abnormal healing, and susceptibility to sepsis. Some prognostic scales do not include biochemical parameters, whereas others consider them together with comorbidities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether serum albumin can predict mortality in burn patients. METHODS: We studied burn patients ≥16 years of age who had complete clinical documentation, including the Abbreviated Burn Severity Index, serum albumin, globulin, and lipids. Sensitivity and specificity analyses were performed to determine the cut-off level of albumin that predicts mortality. RESULTS: In our analysis of 486 patients, we found that mortality was higher for burns caused by flame (p = 0.000), full-thickness burns (p = 0.004), inhalation injuries (p = 0.000), burns affecting >30% of the body surface area (p = 0.001), and burns associated with infection (p = 0.008). Protein and lipid levels were lower in the patients who died (p<0.05). Albumin levels showed the highest sensitivity and specificity (84% and 83%, respectively), and the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (0.869) had a cut-off of 1.95 g/dL for mortality. CONCLUSION: Patients with albumin levels <2 g/dL had a mortality risk of >80%, with 84% sensitivity and 83% specificity. At admission, the albumin level could be used as a sensitive and specific marker of burn severity and an indicator of mortality.

Scientific advances have always been used as a measure to place societies in the context of developed and developing countries. This circumstance has directly influenced the division among the sexes and among social strata. Traditionally women have been relegated to an inferior status and in some instances their role as active participants in social and economic development has been annulled. In professional spheres, women have reached positions that previously seemed unattainable due to social and cultural limitations imposed by men and sometimes by women themselves. Medical school is currently no longer an obstacle for women to gain entry to, approximately 50% of medical students are women. On the other hand, surgical residences constitute a more complex situation. In order for women to decide to apply to a surgical residence, they have to take into account a variety of factors, among them, the difficulty of joining a male dominated environment where women have to demonstrate they are able and capable of performing sometimes at the expense of having to carry an additional work load. Women admitted to surgical residences will have to face gender discrimination, pregnancy and family responsibilities as well as salary inequities and sometimes even sexual harassment. We aimed to show the circumstances and obstacles that women are confronted with during surgical training and the influence these have in their personal and professional development.

El avance científico en el mundo ha sido siempre una medida para ubicar las diferentes naciones en el contexto de países desarrollados o subdesarrollados; a su vez, esta situación ha influido de manera directa en la división de sexos y clases sociales, en donde la mujer ha sido por mucho tiempo relegada a segundo plano o definitivamente anulada como partícipe del desarrollo. En el terreno profesional, la mujer ha escalado posiciones que anteriormente eran imposibles de alcanzar debido a las limitaciones sociales y culturales con las que hay que enfrentarse, incluyendo las que la misma mujer se impone. Actualmente, el ingreso a la carrera de medicina no implica ningún obstáculo en cuestión de género, aproximadamente 50% de los alumnos son mujeres. Las residencias quirúrgicas implican una condición mucho más compleja. Para tomar la decisión de realizar una residencia quirúrgica, la mujer tiene que considerar diversos factores, entre ellos, la dificultad de ingresar en un mundo dominado generalmente por hombres, en donde habrá que demostrar la capacidad con el doble de esfuerzo. Una vez dentro de la residencia quirúrgica, los obstáculos a los que tendrán que enfrentarse van desde discriminación de género, embarazo y familia, inequidad salarial hasta hostigamiento sexual. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar las situaciones que viven las mujeres en especialidades quirúrgicas y cuáles son los obstáculos a los que se enfrenta tanto en su vida profesional como personal.