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Burn diagnosis
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 06.07.2025
Because the clinical picture develops rapidly, burns are examined as soon as possible after the patient's condition has stabilized. The location and depth of burn surfaces are recorded on burn diagrams. Burns that have features of both deep burns with partial damage and with complete damage to the dermis are recorded as complete lesions until more precise differentiation becomes possible. For burns, the percentage of the burn surface is calculated; only burns with partial and complete damage to the dermis are considered. In adults, the percentage of the burned body surface is determined by the rule of nines; for small diffuse burns, the area is estimated based on the size of the victim's palm, which usually makes up 1% of his body surface. Children have large heads and small lower limbs, so the area of the burn surface is more accurately determined by the Lund-Browder tables.
If the patient requires hospitalization, the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood, hematocrit, and electrolytes are determined.
Blood plasma, urea and nitrogen, creatinine, albumin, total protein, phosphate, ionized Ca. An ECG is taken, urine is analyzed for myoglobin, and a chest X-ray is performed. Suspicion of myoglobinuria arises in the case of dark urine or a positive test, consisting of the absence of red blood cells during blood microscopy. The blood test must be repeated dynamically.
The presence of infection is determined by the presence of exudate from the wounds, slow healing, or systemic signs (fever, leukocytosis). If the diagnosis is unclear, infection can be confirmed by biopsy; sowing exudate from the wound surface is not always reliable.
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