Burn Care: An overview of current approaches to its optimal delivery

Abstract

Severe burns are one of the most devastating forms of trauma. There is widespread recognition that well-resourced specialist burn centres deliver the optimal care for these patients. Within such facilities, modern burn care has become a carefully orchestrated and goal-directed exercise in resuscitation, infection control, critical care, surgical wound care, pain relief, nutrition, as well as psychosocial and physical rehabilitation. These interventions have been effectively augmented by advances such as skin substitutes, the pharmacological amelioration of the hypermetabolic response, and laser therapy. This paper overviews current and future management principles to obtain satisfactory results in the surgical subspeciality area of burn care.