Burn patients require additional care and precautions during anesthesia procedure as certain physiological parameters may change following a burn injury. This article summarizes the important measures to be followed before and during anesthesia in burn patients. Multiple aspects of anesthetic care for burn patients rely on the estimation of the percent total body surface area (TBSA) burned as well as the location and severity.
Major burns (>25% in adults and >20% in children) are associated with severe inflammatory and physiological changes in the body. Assessing the patient before anesthesia: After evaluating the severity of burn injuries, monitoring other factors - like fluid resuscitation (during first 48 hours post burn injury), cardiovascular and pulmonary examination - is important. Burn patients may have peripheral insulin resistance, elevated energy expenditure, increased…
