Total Burn Care Home Page

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Burn Patient Care and Referral
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Clinical Advances, Statistics & Activities
   Advances Summary
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Educational Burn Care Information
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Research Overview and Activities
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Disclaimer

We would like to welcome you to the Total Burn Care website.

A major burn injury is a devastating injury, both physically and psychologically, to its victims and their families. Publications from the 1960's list that survival was only 50% for a child with a 35-44% burn. Currently, because of the continued striving to improve clinical care and the research that has occurred in the area of burn injury, a child with a 98% burn can have a 50% chance of survival. Doctors specializing in burn care were one of the first specialty areas to develop a multidisciplinary approach to care.

Total Burn Care addresses the varied physiological, psychological and emotional care of acutely injured burn patients evolving through recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration back into society and daily life activities. Our hope for the future is that through multidisciplinary collaboration, scientists and clinicians will pursue solutions to the perplexing problems that burn survivors must encounter.

The purpose of this website is to provide information on obtaining clinical care for burn victims, provide educational information on clinical care, describe research advances and activities, and provide an opportunity for further communication and contacts.

David N. Herndon, MD

Every year in the United States, 1.1 million burn injuries require medical attention.

Approximately 50,000 of these require hospitalization, and roughly half of those burn patients are admitted to a specialized burn unit.

Each year, approximately 4,500 of these people die.

Up to 10,000 people in the United States die every year of burn-related infections; pneumonia is the most common infectious complication among hospitalized burn patients.

Twenty years ago, burns covering half the body were routinely fatal; today, patients with burns covering 90% of the body can survive (but often with permanent impairments).

Practices that have contributed to this improvement include advances in resuscitation, wound cleaning and follow-up care, nutritional support, and infection control.

Grafting with natural or artificial materials can also speed the healing process.

(from the NIGMS Website)

What Is NIGMS?

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences is a component of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. By supporting basic biomedical research and training nationwide, NIGMS lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

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Page Last Updated 04-12-04