Care of out patient burns.

Introduction Out patient care of burns is appropriate for patients with small partial thickness burns who also have a supportive home environment. The cosmetic outcome of most small second degree burns if healed in 2 weeks time is good. In general, children with less than 10% BSA (body surface area) partial thickness burns and adults with less than 15% BSA partial thickness burns can usually be safely treated as outpatients, unless unsuitable home conditions prevail. In order to quickly determine the BSA of an outpatient burn, use the “rule of palms.” The palm of the patient (child or adult) will equal approximately 1% BSA. Always make sure that the history of the injury matches the clinical picture you see. This is particularly critical with children as you always want to rule out child neglect or abuse as a contributing factor to the injury; and also to make sure that in the case of flame burns, there is no possibility of smoke inhalation and airway impairment. The objectives of out patient burn care are: • To achieve wound healing without loss of work or school • To minimize any permanent impairment or scarring.