Wound excision to fascia in burn patients

B. A. Levine, K. R. Sirinek and B. A. Pruitt Jr

All charts of burn patients admitted to the US Army Institute of Surgical Research over a four-year period were reviewed to determine the efficacy of excision of the burn wound to fascia as a therapeutic modality. Of 1,013 burn patients, 72 underwent this procedure. The patients who had excisions had a mean total burn size of 52% of body surface area (BSA) and a mean third-degree burn of 33%. We correlated survival with burn size, associated injuries, day of excision, wound coverage, and sepsis. Survival in the group who had excisions (57%) did not differ substantially from that of the other patients (38%) when broken down by burn size. Careful selection of patients for this procedure and criteria for selection are stressed.