This document summarizes information about burns, including their epidemiology, classification, etiology, signs and symptoms, estimating extent, diagnosis, complications, and treatment. Burns are injuries of the skin or tissues caused by heat, radiation, chemicals, or electricity. They can range from superficial first degree burns to full thickness third degree burns. The extent of burns is estimated using methods like the Rule of Nines or Lund Browder chart. Deep burns may lead to complications like infection, scarring, and contractures. Treatment involves rehydration, wound cleaning, antibiotics to prevent infection, and skin grafts for deep burns.
4. INTRODUCTION
Burns are injuries of skin or other tissues caused by thermal, radiation,
chemical and electric contact. Burns cause varying degrees of pain,
blisters, swelling and skin loss. Burns are classified by depth and
percentage of total body surface involve.
6. CLASSIFICATION OF BURNS
Burns can be classified according to the depth and severity of the burn
1. According to the depth of the burns.it can be divided into:
• First degree burns: These are the most shallow type of burn limited to
the epidermis
2. Second degree burns also called partial thickness burns: This are burns
that extend from the epidermis to the dermis. Second degree burns can be
classified into two, superficial partial thickness burn and deep partial
thickness burn. Superficial partial thickness burn involves
the papillary layer of the dermis. This burns heals within one to two weeks
and rarely scar.
7. Deep partial burns involve the deeper part of the dermis and take more
than two weeks to heal. Healing occurs only from hair follicle and scaring is
common and severe.
3. Third degree burns also called full thickness burns. It involves all the
three layers of the skin. Healing occurs only from the periphery. This
burns unless small require excision and skin grafting.
2. According to the severity: Burns can be classified into minor, moderate or
severe.
• Minor burns: All first degree burns as well as second degree burns that
involve less than 10% of the body surface are classified as minor.
• Moderate and severe burns. Burns involving the hands, feet, face, or
genitals, second degree burns involving more than 10% of the body surface
area and all third degree burns involving more than 1% of the body are
classified as moderate or more often as severe.
8. ETIOLOGY
• Thermal burns may result from any external heat source(flame, hot
liquids,hot solid object,or occationally steam).fires may also result in
toxic smoke inhalation.
• Radiation burns most commonly result from prolonged exposure to
solar ultraviolet radiation but may result from prolonged or intense
exposure to other source of ultraviolet radiation or from exposure to
source of x-ray or other non solar radiation
• Chemical burns may result from strong acids, strong alkalis,phenols,
cresols, mustard gas, phosphorus and certain petroleum product.
• Electrical burns results from heat generation and electroporation of cell
membrane associated with massive current of electrons.
9. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF BURNS
Symptoms of a burn wound vary with the burns depth.
• First degree burns are red,swollen, and painful. The burned area
whiten (blanches) when lightly touched but does not develop blisters.
• Second degree burns are pink or red, swollen and painful, and they
develop blisters that oozes a clear fluid. The burn area may blanch
when touched.
• Third degree burns usually are not painful because the nerves have
been destroyed. Then skin becomes leathery and may be white,
black, or bright red. The burn area does not blanch when touched,
and hairs can easily be pulled from their roots without pain.
10. ESTIMATING THE EXTEND OF BURNS
The extend of a burn is expressed as the total percentage of body
surface area affected by the injuries.
Accurate estimation of the total body surface area of a burn is
essential to guide management.
Multiple method have been developed to estimate the total body
surface area of burns. This method are not used for superficial burns.
This methods are the role of nine for adult and Lund Browder chart
that covers all age groups.
11. WALLANCE ROLE OF NINE
It is a method used to estimate the extend of burn in adult.it is used for
second and third degree burns. The role of nine assigns a percentage that
is either nine or a multiple of nine to determine how much body surface
area is damaged. According to the role of nine:
• Head and neck is 9%
• The trunk(front is 18% and the back is 18%)
• Each arm is 9%
• Each leg is 18%
• Genital is 1%
12.
13. LUND BROWDER CHART
It is a method use for estimating the degree of burns that allows for the
varying proportion of body surface in persons of different ages.
it is used instead of the role of nine for children, in whom the head
occupies a larger area and the lower limbs a smaller area than in adult.
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16. CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION OF BURNS
• Burns greater than 10% should be admitted
• Burns on the face, hands, joint and perineum
• Full thickness burns
• Burns around the neck, chest or limbs
• Complications such as smoke inhalation electrical burns or non
accidental injury.
17. TREATMENT OF BURNS
• Rehydration with oral or IV fluid
• Analgesics
• Antibiotics to prevent infections
• Debridement and wound cleaning for second and third degree burn.
PROGNOSIS
First and second degree burns heal in days to weeks without scarring.
Deep second degree and small third degree burns take weeks to heal and
usually cause scaring. Most require skin grafting.
Burns that involve more than 90% of the body surface or more than 60% in
older persons are often fatal.
18. COMPLICATIONS
1. Minor burns are usually superficial and do not cause complication.
However, deep second degree and third degree burns swells and take
more time to heal.in addition, deeper burns can cause scar tissue to
form. This scar tissue shrinks as it heals. If the scarring occurs in a limb
or digit, the resulting contracture may restrict movement of nearby
joints
• Dehydration
• Shock due to severe dehydration
• Destruction of muscle tissue
• Infections
• Thick ,crusy surface are produced by deep third degree burns
20. conclusion
• Burns are injuries to tissue that result from heat, electricity, radiation
or chemicals.
• Burns damage the skin, which increases the risk of infection due to
damage to the skin that serves as a first line of defense against
infection.
• Burns in children need immediate medical attention given the fact
that 85 to 95% of their body is made up of water and dehydration in
children can easily lead to death.
• Second and third degree burn requires medical attention because os
risk of infection and dehydration.