An analysis of resuscitative requirements of petrol (gasoline) burns.

A retrospective study was carried out to confirm the clinical impression that petrol (gasoline) burns had a greater resuscitation requirement than other types of thermal injury. A total of 450 admissions to the St Andrews Hospital Regional Burn Unit from 1982 to 1988 were reviewed. Patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, inhalation injury and fatalities occurring within the first 72 h of admission were excluded from the study. Forty-four patients met all requirements for inclusion within the study. These 44 patients consisted of 15 with petrol burns and 29 with non-petrol burns, all of whom were resuscitated using the modified Muir and Barclay formula, with adjustments made on the basis of clinical and laboratory monitoring. Comparison of resuscitation requirements of the two groups by the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test showed that the petrol burns group had a significantly greater fluid resuscitation requirement (P less than 0.01).