Burn Injury

Scope
Complex burns usually affect more than just the skin. Burns can shut down or weaken vital systems, putting their victims at great risk for multiple complications.

Each year, anywhere from 50,000 to 90,000 of the annual burn injuries are severe enough to require hospitalization. More than 6,000 Americans die from burn injuries. Injured persons suffering from burn injuries need the simultaneous care of many specialists, as well as care in specialized hospital units.  These individuals must remain in constant communication to ensure that care is fully integrated.

Treatment
Financial Consequences
Although the average length of an acute stay for hospitalized burn patients is 16 days, injured persons suffering from more severe burns typically spend many months in acute hospital burn care units and rehabilitation facilities, and this first hospitalization is typically followed by periodic re-hospitalizations for reconstructive surgery. The lifetime medical costs for complex burns can easily exceed $1 million.

Treatment Challenges
Depending on how extensive the area of burn is and how deeply the burns penetrate the skin’s layers (sometimes reaching into muscle tissue), virtually every system in the body may be affected by burn injury. There are many challenges to treating this complex medical condition that can impede recovery, including:

• Extraordinary nutritional needs. Severely burned injured individuals suffer huge losses of fluid which must be aggressively but precisely replenished. Caloric needs are just as demanding, often requiring intravenous and/or gasrostomy nutritional supplementation for weeks or months after the injury.
• Risk of infection. Without the skin’s protective layer, burn survivors are highly susceptible to infections which their burn-compromised immune systems are not equipped to fight off.
• Multiple surgeries. The skin will typically require numerous surgeries to remove necroses, or dead skin, and replaced it with new skin through grafting from one’s own body (autograft); from another person or cadaver (allograft); or from synthetic sources.  Amputations are sometimes necessary.  Later reconstructive surgery over a period of years may be necessary to restore function and improve appearance.

• Shock to loved ones. Family members must adjust their lives to care for a loved one who may be unrecognizable at first and virtually helpless for months. How well the burn survivor’s family responds to this kind of trauma is a critical factor in the injured person’s emotional and physical recovery.

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Disclaimer: This site is for informational purposes only. The content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your health care provider if you have any questions regarding your medical condition. Please note that interactions on this site between you and a physician or nurse do not constitute or result in the formation of a physician/injured person and/or nurse/injured person relationship.