Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries
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Data pertaining to 562 consecutive admissions for burn treatment were analysed to identify factors related to survival. Besides socioeconomic, demographic and burn-related variables, three indices to measure burn severity, were proposed and evaluated with the help of multiple regression and discriminant analyses. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that one of the proposed indices, total burned surface (TBS), based on presence or absence of burn injury on 11 different body sites, turned out to be the best single predictor of survival. ⋯ Using this cut-off point (20 per cent) the TBS index provided the correct prediction of the eventual survival status in about 93 per cent of 562 patients. This cut-off point score of 20 was cross-validated on an independent sample of 924 cases. The prediction in 79 per cent of patients could be made correctly.
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A review of 113 patients with massive burns treated in our centre from 1970 to 1989 is presented. There were 57 adults patients with massive burns (> or = 50 per cent TBSA) in 1980-89 who were compared with 56 patients with similar massive burns in the period between 1970 and 1979. The results show a significant improvement (P < 0.01) in survival rate of the more recent patients. The increased survival rate is attributed to improvements in the early treatment of inhalation injury, sepsis and multiorgan failure.