Archives of Surgery · 1965 · 477 citations · 6 references
MedicineSurgeryBurn PreventionBurn RehabilitationBurn SurgeryBurn CareBurn ManagementBurn PathophysiologyBurn ShockThermal Injury PathophysiologyBurn Trauma CareBurn TreatmentBurn Wound ManagementDeath Rate AnalysisSilver-based Burn TherapiesTraumatic Shock
Mortality from burns has fallen over the past 30 years, largely for injuries covering ≤60 % of the body, but the steep mortality curve for burns >65 % suggests that even very extensive burns may not always be lethal. Traumatic shock is no longer a major cause of death in burn patients, and shock associated with 50–85 % body surface burns can be effectively managed with a balanced sodium solution such as Hartmann’s.
WITHIN THE LAST 30 years the mortality from burns and scalds has fallen. However, this change is largely relatable to the reduction of the death rate from burns and scalds covering 60% or less of the body's surface, and the more especially from those covering less than 50% (Table 1). Although burns covering more than 65% of the body are still regularly but not always fatal, the fact that, on a graph, the relationship of mortality to the size of burn is ogival is reason to believe that ultimately even burns covering 90% to 100% of the body will not always be lethal. Traumatic shock is no longer a significant contributing factor to the mortality rate. Even the shock attending thermal injuries covering 50% to 85% of the body is successfully treated by the provision of a sufficient quantity of a balanced solution of sodium salts, such as Hartmann's solution.*
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