Burns are one of the most common and devastating forms of trauma. Patients with serious thermal injury require immediate specialized care in order to minimize morbidity and mortality. Improved outcomes for severely burned patients have been attributed to medical advances in fluid resuscitation, nutritional support, pulmonary care, burn wound care, and infection control practices. The survival rates for burn patients have improved substantially in the past few decades due to advances in modern medical care in specialized burn centers.
As a result, burn-related deaths, depending on the extent of the injury, have been halved within the past 40 years. In patients with severe burns over more than 40% of the total body surface area (TBSA), 75% of all deaths are currently related to sepsis from burn wound infection or other infection complications and/or inhalation injury. Burn injury,…
