ABSTRACT
Burn wounds encompass a wide variety of insults to the integument. An overview of several types is given here. While this chapter provides an overview of burn care, it is not intended to prepare every wound care practitioner for comprehensive burn care. The American Burn Association has established guidelines for who should be referred to a burn center (Table 1). <target id="page_226" target-type="page">226</target> <xref ref-type="table" rid="tab20_1">Table 1</xref> American Burn Association Criteria for Patients to Be Referred to a Burn Center
1.
Partial thickness burns greater than 10% total body surface area (TBSA)
2.
Burns that involve the face, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum, or major joints
3.
Third-degree burns in any age group
4.
Electrical burns, including lightning injury
5.
Chemical burns
6.
Inhalation injury
7.
Burn injury in patients with pre-existing medical disorders that could complicate management, prolong recovery, or affect mortality
8.
Any patients with burns and concomitant trauma (such as fractures) in which the burn injury poses the greatest risk of morbidity or mortality. In such cases, if the trauma poses the greater immediate risk, the patient may be initially stabilized in a trauma center before being transferred to a burn unit. Physician judgment will be necessary in such situations and should be in concert with the regional medical control plan and triage protocols
9.
Burned children in hospitals without qualified personnel or equipment for the care of children
10.
Burn injury in patients who will require special social, emotional, or long-term rehabilitative intervention
