Burns Flashcards
What are the types of burns?
thermal, chemical, smoke and inhalation, electrical, and cold thermal
What causes a thermal burn?
flame, flash, scald, or contact with a hot object
What causes a chemical burn?
contact with acid, alkalis, and organic compounds
what causes smoke and inhalation injuries?
from breathing in hot air or noxious chemicals cause damage to the respiratory tract
What would you see with a upper airway burn?
blisters and edema, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, copious secretions, stridor, substernal and intercostal retractions, total airway obstructions
* swelling can be massive and onset rapid
what would you see with a lower airway burn?
high degree of suspicion if the patient was trapped in a fire in an enclosed space or clothing caught on fire, presence of facial burns or singed nasal or facial hair, dyspnea, carbonaceous sputum, wheezing, hoarseness, and altered mental status
(pulmonary edema may not be present for 12-24 hrs)
what can cause an electrical burn?
intense heat generated from an electrical current
what causes a cold thermal burn?
injury from a temperature too cold: frost bite
What is the classifications of burns?
- depth
- extent of burn calculated in percent of total body surface area (TBSA)
- location of burn
- patient risk factors (age, past medical hx)
what determines the depth of a burn?
how far the burn goes down on the skin
What are the layers of the skin?
- epidermis
- dermis
- subcutaneous tissues
If the epidermis is burned, what depth is that burn?
superficial partial thickness: (1st degree)
If the dermis is burned, what depth is that burn?
Deep partial thickness: (2nd degree)
If the subcutaneous tissues is burned, what depth is that burn?
Full thickness: (3rd and 4th degree)
What determines the extent of the burn?
- lund-browder chart (children)
- Rule of nines
(1st degree burns like a sunburn are not included when calculating)
