[The severe burn from the viewpoint of the patient].

A patient reports a severe burn injury. At the time of the accident, the patient was 42 years old. He tells his story: how the accident occurred, the therapy following, and the long-drawn-out rehabilitation period of three years.

[In vitro and in vivo studies of a temporary absorbable dressing].

The major advantage of biodegradable synthetic wound dressings compared to other synthetic materials and biological tissue derivatives is avoidance of the necessity to change the dressing. The copolymer films used in this study were made of lactic and caproic acid. They pose no problems concerning immunology or transmission of diseases.

[Treatment of severe concomitant injuries in severely burned patients].

Over a period of almost 6 years, 18 out of 320 burn patients treated in the burn centre had sustained additional severe trauma; for the most part the trauma was due to a motor vehicle accident or a fall. The risk of overlooking such additional injuries can be minimized by systematic examination and a team approach, the same as in normal multiple-trauma patients. Apart from the burn, life-threatening complications such as intra-abdominal bleeding or haemopneumothoracic injuries are to be treated immediately.

[Initial management of severely burned patients from the surgical viewpoint].

Of all the surgical steps in the therapy of severely burned patients, the first procedure has a decisive influence on the outcome. Current surgical emergency care-diagnosis and treatment of burns in our special-care units for burned children and adults is presented and discussed.

[Basic comments on differential surgical therapy of severe burns].

The life of severely burned patients nowadays is endangered especially by infections and septic complications deriving from the wounds. This danger can be obviated only by early excision of all deep necrotic areas and immediate wound closure, ideally with autografts. The correct estimation of the depth of burn is decisive for effective local surgical therapy, which is guided mainly by visible criteria.