Definition
Burn injuries represent a severe insult to body homeostasis. An extensive hypermetabolic and inflammatory response occurs as a consequence of thermal tissue damage to more than 40% of the total body surface area (TBSA) and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality [1]. This response may be so extensive that victims invariably suffer cardiovascular derangements if more than one third of the TBSA is affected. This condition is defined as burn shock [2].
Characteristics
Quantifying the extent of the burn injury is of utmost importance because it allows the physician to provide an adequate and comprehensive treatment that includes fluid resuscitation, nutritional support, pharmacologic agents, wound care, surgical interventions, and rehabilitation.
The current understanding of how the burn size is associated to the inflammatory response and fluid shifts can be dated back to the studies performed by Frank P....
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Jeschke MG, Mlcak RP, Finnerty CC, Norbury WB, Gauglitz GG, Kulp GA, Herndon DN (2007) Burn size determines the inflammatory and hypermetabolic response. Crit Care 11(4):R90
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Moore FD (1970) The body-weight burn budget. Basic fluid therapy for the early burn. Surg Clin North Am 50(6):1249–1265
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Dibildox, M., Jeschke, M.G., Herndon, D.N. (2012). Burn Injury, Rule of Nines. In: Vincent, JL., Hall, J.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00418-6_380
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-00418-6_380
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-00417-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-00418-6
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