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APRIL 2016 | The Surgical Technologist | 161 Burn Surgery: Restoring Life to Burn Victims L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S s List the categories of burn depths s Recall the three zones of a burn s Examine the role the surgical technologist plays throughout burn surgeries s Review the steps of skin grafting in relation to burn procedures s Read about what steps and support it takes to help a patient recover from a burn injury P A T H O L O G Y The need for surgical intervention/debridement depends on the depth of the injury. Burn depths can be categorized in three areas: superfi- cial (first degree), partial thickness (second degree) and full thickness (third degree). A patient with full thickness injuries has destroyed all of the dermal elements causing the injured area unable to regenerate skin. Partial thickness injuries have some cell survival in the dermal elements, and have a better chance at repopulating skin. Local Response The three zones of a burn are zone coagulation, zone of stasis and zone of hyperaemia. Zone coagulation occurs at the point of the maximum damage, where there is irreversible tissue loss. Zone of stasis is the surrounding area characterized by decreased tissue perfusion and can potentially be salvageable. Zone of hyperaemia is the outermost zone Carr i e M Engel , cst, as With motor vehicle accidents being the leading cause of death in the Unit- ed States, burn/thermal injuries that require medical treatment affect more than 486,000 people each year. 1 More than 40,000 of these patients require admittance to the hospital, including 30,000 who are admitted to burn centers. The survival rate of thermal injuries has increased to 96.7% over the past four decades as a result of an aggressive multidisciplinary approach to care. 5