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How to Deal with Burn Lesions

by Kathleen LeRoi

Modern burn therapy started during the Second World War when penicillin, sulphanilamide and plasma became available for clinical use. They were efficient solutions against the two most common killing complications of deep burns, shock and infection. Before 1940 in Europe, a patient with more than of their skin was most like to die. Now such a patient can attain multi-disciplinary care in a well-equipped and highly specialized burn unit.

Immense improvements have appeared since the 1940s, reflected by lower mortality rates, better healing time and restored function. This is thanks to the formation of burn research units, a better understanding of the burn injury and new, improved techniques.

The clinical team's main concern is not the burn scar or burn wound itself, but the burn victim's life-support systems for blood circulation and respiration. The burn victim can die from breathing problems or from shock. Shock is characterized by a reduced rate of blood flow to the essential organs. If the blood flow to these organs is insufficient, they are deprived of the oxygen they require to work. The severity of shock generally matches the amount of skin that has been burned, that is expressed as a percentage of the complete body surface. There are respiratory issues if the lungs cannot supply enough oxygen to the organism. This is more likely if the burn victim has also suffered from smoke inhalation.

Shock, smoke inhalation, the size of the burn and the extension of a possible third-degree lesion determines a patient's immediate possibilities for survival when suffering a burn injury. The success rate of skin care interventions depends upon the age of the burn victim, the size of the lesion, and the severity of smoke inhalation damage.

Burns are classified by the size of the burn in relation to the overall body size of the victim and to the depth of the burn. The burn injury is treated by hospital personnel one or two times a day and then dressed, commonly with treatment products created to destroy germs (a burn cream called a topical antibiotic), bandages and gauze. Dressings implies anything the nurses apply on or around the lesion. Paraffin-imbued gauze is adequate because it won't stick to the lesion. Modern see-through dressings are best, as the lesion can heal beneath what looks like clear plastic sheeting. The healing process can be monitored and the skin doesn't need to be disturbed so often and so cures more quickly. The see-through dressings are very costly, but not if we consider advantages like minimizing pain, less scarring and quicker healing. Classical bandages can be washed and reused while plastic-like sheets are used once.

Prevent the consequences of severe skin burns and solar damage applying a new skin care product made only with biological ingredients.

Published July 23rd, 2008

Filed in Health