Definition of severe burns

Severe burns mean: 

Superficial partial-thickness

• Children <3 years with >5% TBSA
• Children <16 years with >10% TBSA
• Adults (16-65 years) with >20% TBSA
• Elderly (>65 years) with >10% TBSA

Deep partial-thickness/Full-thickness burns

• All deep partial thickness or full thickness burns.

Other conditions

• Severe electrical injury
• Severe chemical damage
• Toxic epidermal necrolysis >10%
• Combination injury (inhalation injury/trauma)
• Circumferential burns
• Burns involving critical areas (face, head, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum and major joints)
• Burn injury in combination with another complicating condition of the patient and/or special needs of the patient.

Clarification:

When appropriate, some patients may, following assessment by the NHVe, receive care and treatment in their home region. Assesments can be made by calling.

Borderline cases

Burns that you, as the referrer, consider to be borderline cases must always be discussed with a hospital authorised to provide National Highly Specialised Care. By borderline cases we mean those that fall within the given definition but where referral is not considered obvious. If the receiving hospital and the hospital licenced to provide National Highly Specialised Care disagree on where a patient should be treated, this should be documented for follow-up.

Length of stay

Once a patient has been referred to a hospital licenced to provide National Highly Specialised Care, the patient should be cared for in that hospital, for as long as good care requires access to the multi-professional and structural expertise available in that hospital. After that, the patient can be cared for in the unit that the referring hospital considers most appropriate. 

Contact us

Consultations are available through the Burn Centre on 018-611 04 60.

Consultant in charge of the specialty area, Head Physician, Professor Fredrik Huss, via the switchboard: 018-611 00 00.