gms | German Medical Science

32. Jahrestagung der Deutschsprachigen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Verbrennungsbehandlung (DAV 2014)

15.01. - 18.01.2014, Arosa, Schweiz

Rapid Burn Assessor

Meeting Abstract

  • L. Kamolz
  • M. Giretzlehner
  • R. Owen
  • J. Dirnberger
  • H. Haller

Deutschsprachige Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Verbrennungsbehandlung. 32. Jahrestagung der Deutschsprachigen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Verbrennungsbehandlung (DAV 2014). Arosa, Schweiz, 15.-18.01.2014. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2014. Doc14dav63

doi: 10.3205/14dav63, urn:nbn:de:0183-14dav634

Veröffentlicht: 18. Juni 2014

© 2014 Kamolz et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open Access-Artikel und steht unter den Creative Commons Lizenzbedingungen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.de). Er darf vervielfältigt, verbreitet und öffentlich zugänglich gemacht werden, vorausgesetzt dass Autor und Quelle genannt werden.


Gliederung

Text

Background: The determination of burned surface area and burn degree is one of the most important tasks when assessing a burn injury. The burned surface area is not only used for fluid resuscitation calculation, but also for calculating energy consumption, planning surgical procedures, etc. The burned surface area is usually estimated and the resulting estimation errors have been published multiple times. Especially small scattered areas are highly prone to estimation errors due to often inadequate application of the “Palm Rule”.

Methods: Our aim is to create a possibility to use a reference size, which is easily available and easy to use. Almost everybody nowadays has a mobile phone. Therefore, a mobile phone is always available and has a distinct size. This reference size can be used to objectively determine the size of small burn injuries.

Results: In order to provide a simple tool for determining the size of small burn injuries, the application “Rapid Burn Assessor” has been developed. It consists of two main screens: Configuration and Usage. The Configuration screen enables the user to define the size of various reference devices (e.g. mobile phone, business card, etc.) and to choose which device and BSA formula to use for the calculations. On the Usage screen the user defines height and weight of the patient.

Secondly, the user specifies how often the selected device fits into the burn injury. The application then automatically calculates the percentage and surface area of the wound.

Conclusion: The application is available for Apple iOS TM and Google AndroidTM. Publications have shown that the estimation of burn injuries is difficult and often results in high estimation errors. This can lead to suboptimal treatment and unnecessary additional procedures. The “Rapid Burn Assessor” is easy to use and improves the accuracy of the determination of the burn injury size.