Burns of the Chest Wall

Abstract

Burns of the thorax constitute a common burn but rarely receive close consideration due to their relatively easy treatment. However, issues evolve that the dedicated burn surgeon must consider. At the University of Washington between 1996 and 2000, 29% of admissions involved the thorax. The demographics of this sub-population typify the average burn patient as a 40 year-old male (71% were male). Of these, flame burns (59%) in middle aged men were the most common burns (Table 1), but scald burns constituted 33% of the patients with an average age of 13 reflecting the overwhelming preponderance of scald buens in young children (Table 2). Deep thermal injury to the lung is rare, occurring only with electrical burns.