Burns Flashcards
What are 4 types of burns?
Thermal burn
Chemical burn
Electric burn
Radiation burn
What types of burns are caused by convection or conduction?
Thermal burns
What is typical of an electrical burn?
An entrance and exit wound
How long will a chemical burn last?
Will last until the chemical compound is diluted at the site of contact
What is the most common cause of radiation burns?
Exposure to external radiation therapy
What are the 3 zones of injury associated with burns?
Zone of coagulation
Zone of stasis
Zone of hyperemia
What is the zone of coagulation?
The area of the burn that received the most severe injury with irreversible cell damage
What is the zone of stasis?
The area with less severe injury that possess reversible damage and surrounds the zone of coagulation
What is the zone of hyperemia?
The area surrounding the zone of stasis that presents with inflammation, but will fully recover without any intervention or permanent damage
How are burns classified?
Based on depth of tissue destruction
What are the 5 burn classifications?
Superficial burns Superficial partial thickness burns Deep partial thickness burns Full-thickness burns Subdermal burns
Describe superficial burns. How long do they take to heal?
- Involves only the outer epidermis
- May be red with slight edema
- Heal in 2-5 days without scarring
Describe superficial partial thickness burns. How long do they take to heal?
- Involve the epidermis and upper portion of the dermis
- May be extremely painful with blisters
- Heal in 5-21 days with minimal to no scarring
Describe deep partial thickness burns. How long do they take to heal?
- Involves complete destruction of the epidermis and the majority of the dermis
- Discolored with broken blisters and edema
- Heals in 21-35 days with possible hypertrophic/keloid scarring
Describe full thickness burns. How long do they take to heal?
- Involves complete destruction of the epidermis and dermis along with partial destruction of the subcutaneous fat layer
- Eschar formation and minimal pain
- Require grafts to heal
- Heals in weeks to months depending on size of burn
Describe subdermal burns. How long do they take to heal?
- Involves the complete destruction of epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue
- May involve muscle and bone as well
- Require surgical intervention and extensive healing time
Describe the rule of nines.
Head and neck = 9% Anterior trunk = 18% Posterior trunk= 18% Bilateral anterior arm, forearm and hand = 9% Bilateral posterior arm, forearm and hand = 9% Genital region = 1% Bilateral anterior leg and foot = 18% Bilateral posterior leg and foot = 18%
What tools are used to estimate calculation of the extent of body surface area burned in children under the age of 7?
Lund and Browder method
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the anterior neck? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity: Flexion with possible lateral flexion
Splinting: Soft collar, molded collar, Philadelphia collar
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the anterior chest and axilla? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity: Shoulder adduction, extension, and medial rotation
Splinting: Axillary or airplane splint, shoulder abduction brace
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the elbow? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity: Flexion and pronation
Splinting: Gutter splint, conforming splint, three point splint, air splint
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the hand and wrist? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity: MCP extension or hyperextension, IP joint flexion, flexion and adduction of thumb, wrist flexion
Splint: wrist splint, thumb spica splint, palmar or dorsal extension splint
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the hip? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity: flexion and adduction
Splinting: Anterior hip spica, abduction splint
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the knee? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity:flexion
Splinting: Conforming splint, three point splint, air splint
What is the anticipated deformity following a burn at the ankle? What type of splinting is used?
Deformity: Plantar flexion
Splinting: Posterior foot drop splint, posterior ankle conforming splint, anterior ankle conforming splint
What causes hypertrophic scarring?
An imbalance between collagen synthesis and lysis
What intervention has been found to be effective in loosening adhesions and scar tissue following a burn?
Friction massage
What intervention is recommended to reduce hypertrophic scarring for wounds that take greater than 14 days to heal?
Compression therapy
What 2 topical agents used to treat burns are painless to apply?
Silver sulfadiazine
Silver nitrate
What is an allograft?
A temporary skin graft taken from another human to cover a large burned area
What is a autograft?
Permanent skin graft taken from a donor site on the patient’s own body
What is an escharotomy?
Surgical procedures that opens or removes eschar from a burn site to reduce tension on surrounding structures
What is a full-thickness graft?
Skin graft that contains the dermis and epidermis
What is a heterograft?
Temporary skin graft taken from another species
What is a split thickness graft?
Skin graft that contains only a superficial layer of the dermis in addition to the epidermis
What is a z-plasty?
Surgical procedure to eliminate a scar contracture.
An incision is made in the shape of a z to allow the scar to change configuration and lengthen
