Two new burn severity indices

Abstract

Two new severity indices for burned patients based on the combined experience of 11,200 patients in 12 major U.S. burn centers are presented. Each index estimates the risk of death utilizing the patient's age, sex, size of burn, perineum involvement, and time from burn to admission, and is suitable for use with patients admitted within 2 weeks of the burn. The two indices differ in the specificity of the burn size information used. The first index utilizes only the per cent of total body surface burned. The second index, in addition, uses the amount of full-thickness burn. The more detailed index provides a somewhat more accurate estimate and may be used if an adequate estimate of the area of full-thickness burn is available. Applications include patient prognosis estimation and retrospective evaluation of new treatments. Methods for the computation and use of both indices are described together with illustrative examples.