“Heparin is the very best therapy for first 7 days.
Topical use alone is usually sufficient in burned children, and often sufficient in adults. Heparin is best overall for burns.”

Dr. Alberto Reyes Escamilla, MD FMCS Director of Department of Surgery, Head of Burn Center, The General Hospital, Tijuana, Mexico:

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Heparin is Affordable

Science of Heparin Treatment

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Heparin is affordable, relieves burn pain and
enhances healing without scars and contractures!

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Series of pictures to show healing phases of a patient.
Photo courtesy of Alberto Reyes, M.D.

Heparin was tested in burns as early as 1940. By 1960, researchers found small doses injected in the body produced limited benefits. Survival time was doubled. The big breakthrough was when larger doses were placed on burn surfaces and internally by Dr. Saliba in 1963. He and coworkers found, and researchers worldwide confirmed, that heparin:

  • Relieved burn pain;
  • Kept blood flowing;
  • Prevented clots and clot complications;
  • Stopped destructive burn breakdown and reduced the swelling;
  • Restored blood flow;
  • Increased collagen, muscle, and skin cells, enhancing healing.
  • Produced smooth skin without scars or contractures.
  • Patients were awake alert, comfortable, and cooperative with a sense of well-being; Breathing, eating, moving were much better;
  • Procedures were fewer;
  • Costs were affordable;
  • Patients, relatives, and
    therapists were thankful
    their doctors added heparin.

Before you are burned, you must ask your doctors to use heparin as a first treatment prior to any surgery, if, and when, you or a loved one are burned.

DETAILS OF HEPARIN METHOD and BENEFITS

HOW HEPARIN IMPROVES BURN TREATMENT AND RESULTS

SUMMARY FOR DOCTORS



Fireplace caught bedclothes on fire severely burning the back of this 5 year old child. Pain promptly relieved by heparin in blisters and on surface. Healed without scars or contractures.

What Dr. SALIBA and COWORKERS FOUND
and Doctors Worldwide CONFIRMED:
  • No evidence of clotting of blood — no complications due to blood clots:
    1. No destruction of the blood-deprived tissue beyond the clot (an infarction);
    2. No dislodging of a clot that traveled within a blood vessel (an embolus) to form an infarction in a distant organ;
    3. Nor many emboli forming infarctions in many body organs that was often lethal (named Disseminated Intravascular Coagulopathy).
  • Pain in burns was relieved within minutes when heparin was dripped or sprayed onto burn surfaces (topically).
  • Pain in blisters was relieved within a minute when blister fluid was drained and the blister were rinsed with heparin.
  • Deep in body pain was relieved promptly as heparin was administered by vein, or more slowly relieved by heparin injection into fat below normal skin.
  • Recurrent lesser pain was relieved again with a lesser amount of heparin.
  • With pain relieved, no pain medicine was needed.
    1. No morphine,
    2. No dilaudid,
    3. No demerol,
    4. No codeine narcotics.

Therefore,

  • Narcotic complications were avoided:
    1. No distorted senses;
    2. No suppressed breathing or heart function;
    3. No decreased intestinal activity; and
    4. No addiction.
  • In addition to relief of pain, other signs of burn cellular-destruction (inflammation) were controlled: the redness was blanched; the heat was cooled, and the burn and body swelling was much reduced. Once relieved they did not return with continued use of heparin.
  • Saliba administered oral penicillin or erythromycin antibiotic to all burned patients, who had fewer infections then previous patients not treated with heparin. Increased delivery of antibiotic to burns by the heparin-enhanced blood flow to the burns was one mechanism. Another reason for reduced infections was found 2 decades later - a study showed heparin preserved intestinal structure and reduced translocation (passage) of intestinal bacteria into the body (sepsis) in experimental 3rd degree burns compared to controls without heparin.

Dr. Michael J. Saliba, MD, FAAFP
Day 1
Day 3
Day 11
Boiling water scalded infant. Heparin relived pain within minutes. Blood restored healing, and there were no scars or contractures.
  • With heparin use, fluids needed to maintain vital blood circulation was half.
  • Saliba described the enhanced amount of highly vascular granulation tissue, whose main ingredient is collagen, without stating the mechanism of heparin-collagen effect, because mechanisms were unknown.
  • Nearly 15 years later, Drs. KM Ramakrishnan and colleagues in Madras (now named Chennai) India, experimented and found the mechanisms by which heparin stimulated and regulated the production and deposition of collagen in granulation tissue in two phases in burned patients.
  • Saliba describe enhanced healing with consistently smooth skin without scars and contractures with heparin use topically into healing. As with neoangiogenesis and enhanced granulation tissue, no mechanism(s) for the heparin production of smooth skin without scars or contractures were stated because mechanisms were not then known. Two decades later, studies found heparin stimulated the production of primitive cells (fibroblasts) to form increased numbers of smooth muscle cells so no contractures resulted. The muscle cells then adequately filled the space below the new skin, so no shortening (contracture) of the skin surface resulted which limited movement. Similarly heparin stimulated increased production of primitive fibroblast cells to form new dermal cells, and aligned their inner structural rods (intracytoplasmic fibrils) in a parallel regular pattern which resulted in smooth skin. In scars the intracytoplasmic fibrils were in a chaotic pattern or in clumps beneath the dermal cell membrane.
  • The studies were presented in National and International Burn Meetings.
  • Developed a Heparin in Burns Treatment Protocol available free to download from Website: http://salibaburnsinstitute.org
  • The Heparin Protocol was presented to and beneficially used by doctors in treating over 30,500 burned patients in 18 countries (by 2007).
  • Advocated use of heparin in thermal disasters as a first response cost-effective treatment of the many burn victims.
  • Developed a Heparin Therapy in Thermal Disasters Protocol available free to download from the Internet Website: http://salibaburnsinstitute.org
  • Organized a Global Heparin Therapy in Thermal Disaster Response System of Doctors experienced in Heparin Therapy in many countries (In each doctor’s link.). These doctors are willing to travel within and adjacent to their countries to sites of thermal disasters and within 2-24 hours consult-assist the local doctors when appropriate in the cost-effective treatment using heparin of the many burned persons. (View Thermal Disasters in Mexico and India link.)
  • Saliba additionally researched heparin treatment of difficult-to-treat and chronic-non-healing-wounds, ulcers, and skin problems. The evidence is in the U.S. Patents he filled but did not use commercially. Heparin provides cost-effective therapy for these dreaded, costly, disabling, and often terminal ills.
  • Established the Saliba Burns Institute, a global association of burn-treating doctors dedicated to broadly informing the public and instructing doctors, nurses, and ancillary therapists worldwide in the safe, cost-effective addition of heparin in treatment of burns, wounds, and difficult to treat skin problems.
  • Sponsored National and International Heparin Effects in Burns Meetings, Conferences, and Symposiums with Workshops. In the future, the meetings will be expanded beyond burns to include wounds and skin problems.
    See also: A Summary of How Heparin Improves Burns for Patients and Doctors.THE WHO DID WHAT & WHEN HEPARIN BURN STORY
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