Current consensus and controversies in major burns management

Abstract

Most doctors in Britain receive some training in the care of the burned patient, if not as an undergraduate then as part of training in accident and emergency medicine or in the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®) course. Because major burn injury presents infrequently to the average district hospital, most of this training is rusty by the time it is needed. Further, most have little opportunity to catch up with developments in this very specialized area of trauma medicine. This paper aims to address some of these shortcomings by describing recent advances in burn care and highlighting areas of current debate. The fluids used for resuscitation, improved options for treatment, the status of ongoing discussions about treatment facilities and the state of the art in managing smoke inhalation are reviewed. Some pointers to the future and to avenues for research are suggested.