Wound excision to fascia in burn patients.

All charts of burn patients admitted to the US Army Institute of Surgical Research over a four-year period were reviewed to determine the efficacy of excision of the burn wound to fascia as a therapeutic modality. Of 1,013 burn patients, 72 underwent this procedure. The patients who had excisions had a mean total burn size of 52% of body surface area (BSA) and a mean third-degree burn of 33%. We correlated survival with burn size, associated injuries, day of excision, wound coverage, and sepsis. Survival in the group who had excisions (57%) did not differ substantially from that of the other patients (38%) when broken down by burn size. Careful selection of patients for this procedure and criteria for selection are stressed.