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ICU Care of Burn Patients

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Essential Burn Care for Non-Burn Specialists

Abstract

As burn care has improved, patients with severe burn injury have had improved survival. However, severe burn injury requires care in specialized intensive care unit (ICU) due to the profound impact of burn injury on the body. Patients with burns >20% total body surface area (TBSA) require admission to a burn ICU because they are at risk for complications such as resuscitation failure, infection, sepsis, and multi-organ failure due to their injury. Some patients with smaller burns also require ICU care because of significant medical comorbidities or either very young or advanced age. This chapter will address some of the special concerns in caring for severe burns in the ICU. Derangements to the cardiac, pulmonary, and renal system will be discussed as well as the body’s response to injury. Complications such as sepsis and renal failure will be reviewed. Finally, goals of care and palliative care will be addressed. Many topics discussed in this chapter are reviewed in more extensive details in other chapters.

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Correspondence to David T. Harrington .

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Hunter, M., Harrington, D.T. (2023). ICU Care of Burn Patients. In: Lee, J.O. (eds) Essential Burn Care for Non-Burn Specialists. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28898-2_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28898-2_14

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-28897-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-28898-2

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