BURNS Flashcards
who are burns likely to impact?
males: female
6:1
- burns have decreased in high-income areas and increased in low-income areas
likely to impact:
- males
- children
- individuals with high-risk jobs involving use of chemical agents
describe the anatomy of the skin
Upper layer: epidermis
Middle: dermis
Deepest: subcutaneous tissue
describe the function of the skin
The skin is temperature regulation and the neurosensory interface
- Immune response/protection from bacterial invasion
- Control of fluid loss
- Metabolic and psycho-social function
describe the pathophysiology of burns (talk about the circulatory and metabolic response)
Characterised by circulatory effects and metabolic effects.
- Circulatory effects cause an increase in capillary permeability resulting in a loss of fluid from the body’s circulation, a loss of albumin from the circulation resulting in oedema formation.
- The metabolic effects include secretion of stress hormones (tachycardia), neural response via SNS and hypothalamus (hyperthermia), suppression of anabolic hormones and development of massive catabolic response (protein wasting) and depression of the immune response (susceptibility to infection)
what are the main causes of burns? (7)
- fire
- chemicals
- steam
- sunlight
- hot objects
- radiation
- electrical currents
identify the different types of burns? (5)
- epidermal
- superficial dermal
- mid-dermal
- deep dermal
- full thickenss
describe an epidermal burns
skin intact, red, brisk capillary refill → heal within 3-7 days with moisturiser and dressings
describe a superficial burn
blisters present with brisk pink capillary refill. Heal within 7-14 days with minimal dressing requirements
describe a mid-dermal burn
heterogenous, variable depths with dark pink sluggish cap refill. Heal within 14-21 days
describe a deep dermal burn
heterogeneous variable depths with blotchy and absent cpa refill. Surgical intervention required
describe a full-thickness burn
- outer skin and some underlying tissue is dead, white brown and black appearance.
- No cap refill and surgical intervention and long-term scar management required.
what is included in the early management of a burn?
- Stop, drop and roll
- Remove clothing
- If a dry chemical → brush it off
- Cool the burn down → from the time of injury = three hours will still benefit to put a hand under cool running water
- Early management
why is early management of burns important?
Early management is important to prevent the burn from worsening and becoming deeper.
The severity will be minimised and the healing time shortened.
what is the goal of fluid resus?
To maintain tissue perfusion in the early phase of burn shock and also prevent hypovolaemia which can be caused by extravasation of fluid from the intravascular compartments.
why is fluid resus important in burns management?
- fluid shifts that occur in burns need to be compensated for for the first 8-12 hours
