1 Burn Classification and Severity Free Online FlashCards

What factors are used to assess burn severity?

Assess severity by depth, extent, and location, while also considering age, associated injuries, medical conditions, and possible inhalation injury.

How is a superficial burn characterized, and is it counted in TBSA?

A superficial burn affects only the epidermis. It is typically dry, red, blanching, and painful, without blisters; it is not counted in TBSA.

What are the features of a superficial partial-thickness burn?

It affects the epidermis and superficial dermis. It is often moist, red, blanching, blistered, and very painful; it is counted in TBSA.

What tissue and findings characterize a deep partial-thickness burn?

It affects the deeper dermis and is often drier and paler, with reduced blanching and sensation. It is counted in TBSA.

What defines a full-thickness burn?

It destroys the entire skin thickness and may extend into underlying tissue. It can look dry or leathery and white, brown, or black; it is counted in TBSA.

Why can a full-thickness burn have little or no sensation?

A full-thickness burn may be painless because sensory nerves are destroyed, even though nearby partial-thickness tissue can remain very painful.

Which burns are included in a TBSA estimate?

TBSA is the percentage of the body affected by partial-thickness or full-thickness burns. Superficial burns are excluded.

In an adult, about what TBSA does the front of one arm represent?

The adult Rule of Nines assigns about $9\%$ TBSA to one arm; its front is half, or about $4.5\%$.

Why is the Lund–Browder chart preferred for estimating a child's TBSA?

Use the Lund–Browder chart because it adjusts body-region proportions for age, accounting for how children's proportions differ from adults' and change as they grow.

How does the palmar method estimate small or scattered burns?

The patient's entire hand surface, including the fingers, is approximately $1\%$ TBSA; this method helps estimate small or scattered burns.

Can a small TBSA estimate rule out concern about a deep burn on a major joint?

No. Burn severity is not determined by TBSA alone; a deep burn over a hand or major joint may matter because of its location and effect on function.

Which thermal burns meet the ABA's extent-based immediate consultation criteria?

The ABA recommends immediate burn-center consultation with consideration for transfer for thermal full-thickness burns or partial-thickness burns involving at least $10\%$ TBSA.