The consensus of the surgical treatment of burn injuries in Belgium

Abstract

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the 'Belgian Association of Burn Injuries' an inventory was made of all surgical techniques used in the five largest Belgian burn centres in order to draw up a consensus document. A questionnaire covering the whole treatment of severely burned patients was sent to the surgeons of each burn unit, ranging from emergency treatment, through diagnostic techniques, burn surgery and post-healing treatment (scars, contractures). During the past decade, several (often expensive) new techniques have been commercialised, resulting in a wide variety of treatment modalities in the different centres. For the majority of bums, however, a similar protocol is followed: the superficial burns are treated conservatively and the deep burns surgically. Nevertheless, burns of indeterminate depth are susceptible to variations in their treatment. There are also different therapeutic options for the deepest burns, from the use of donor skin to dermal substitutes as well as cultured keratinocytes. The writing of this consensus required intense communication on the different therapeutic modalities, as well as an increased exchange of experiences, which could lead to an improvement in the quality of burn treatment in Belgium.