Articles

Modern burn therapy started around the Second World War when penicillin, sulphanilamide and plasma became available for clinical use. They were efficient solutions against the two most usual killing complications of extensive burns, shock and infection. In Europe, before 1940, a person with more than of their skin was most like to die. Now these patients can attain multi-disciplinary treatment in a well-equipped and highly specialized burn unit.

Immense enhancements have appeared since the 1940s, measurable by better healing time, lower mortality rates and restored functionality. This is thanks to the formation of burn research units, an improved knowledge of the burn injury and new, enhanced techniques.

The clinical team's first concern is not the burn scar or burn wound itself, but the patient's life-support systems for respiration and blood circulation. The patient can die from breathing problems or from shock. Shock is characterized by a decreased rate of blood flow to the essential organs. If the blood flow to these organs is insufficient, they can't receive the oxygen they need to work. The severity of shock usually matches the amount of skin that has been burned, that is shown as a percentage of the complete body surface. There will be respiratory issues if the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the organism. This is more frequent if the patient has also been affected by smoke inhalation.

Shock, smoke inhalation, the size of the burn and how much of the total burn is a third-degree burn determines a person's immediate chances for survival after a burn injury. The success rate of skin care procedures depends on the age of the burn victim, the area of the lesion, and the severity of smoke inhalation damage.

Burns are classified by the size of the burn in relation to the overall body size of the victim and to the depth of the burn. The burn injury is cleaned by hospital personnel one or two times a day and then dressed, usually with treatment products designed to destroy germs (a burn product known as a topical antibiotic), gauze and bandages. Dressings implies anything the nurses put on or around the lesion. Paraffin-impregnated gauze is adequate because it doesn't stick to the lesion. Modern see-through dressings are best, as the lesion can heal beneath what looks like clear plastic sheeting. The curing progress can be monitored and the skin doesn't require to be examined so often and so heals more quickly. The see-through dressings are very costly, but not if measured in terms of less scarring, minimizing pain and quicker curing. Classical bandages can be reused after being washed, while plastic-like sheets are used once.