Burn care evolved slowly from primitive treatments depicted in cave drawings 3500 years ago to a vibrant medical specialty which has made remarkable progress over the past 200 years. This evolution involved all areas of burn care including superficial dressings, wound assessment, fluid resuscitation, infection control, pathophysiology, nutritional support, burn surgery, and inhalation injury. Major advances that contributed to current standards of care and improved outcomes are highlighted in this article. New innovations are making possible a future where severe burn injuries will require less morbid interventions for acute care and outcomes will restore patients more closely to their pre-injury condition.
Keyphrases
- healthcare
- palliative care
- wound healing
- quality improvement
- acute care
- pain management
- cardiac arrest
- ejection fraction
- physical activity
- minimally invasive
- type diabetes
- adipose tissue
- metabolic syndrome
- acute coronary syndrome
- bariatric surgery
- prognostic factors
- early onset
- current status
- surgical site infection
- obese patients
- medical students