ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Trauma can be defined as bodily injury severe enough to pose a threat to life, limbs, and tissues and organs, which requires the immediate intervention of specialized teams to provide adequate outcomes. Burn injury, unlike other traumas, can be quantified as to the exact percentage of body injured, and can be viewed as a paradigm of injury from which many lessons can be learned about critical illness involving multiple organ systems. Proper initial management is critical for the survival and good outcome of the victim of minor and major thermal trauma. However, even though burn injuries are frequent in our society, many surgeons feel uncomfortable in managing patients with major thermal trauma. Every year, 2.5 million Americans sustain a significant burn injury, 100,000 are hospitalized, and over 10,000 die. Only motor vehicle accidents cause more accidental deaths than burns. Advances in trauma and burn management over the past three decades have resulted in improved survival and reduced mortality from major burns. Twenty-five years ago, the mortality rate of a 50% body surface area (BSA) burn in a young adult was about 50%, despite treatment. Today, that same burn results in a lower than 10% mortality rate. Ten years ago, an 80-90% BSA burn yielded 10% survival. Today, over 50% of these patients are surviving. Improved results are due to advancements in resuscitation, surgical techniques, infection control, and nutritional/metabolic support.
