Citation

Godwin Y, Wood SH. Burns 1998; 24(1): 58-63.

Affiliation

Department of Plastic Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, Republic of South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9601593

Abstract

Major burns equal to, or greater than, 30 per cent total body surface area (TBSA) constitute 23 per cent of the admissions to the adult burns unit in Cape Town. A retrospective review over a 28-month period identified 87 cases of major burns. This paper summarizes the epidemiology and mortality amongst this patient group over this period. Demand for treatment can exceed bed availability in the unit. The difficult issue, this raises, of patient triage in relation to the relatively limited resources is addressed and a simple modified burns score proposed for this unit. The effect this score would have in optimizing the use of our resources is demonstrated.

Language: en