Because of their extensive wounds, burn patients are chronically exposed to inflammatory mediators. Thus, burn patients, by definition, already have "systemic inflammatory response syndrome." Current definitions for sepsis and infection have many criteria (fever, tachycardia, tachypnea, leukocytosis) that are routinely found in patients with extensive burns, making these current definitions less applicable to the burn population. Experts in burn care and research, all members of the American Burn Association, were asked to review the literature and prepare a potential definition on one topic related to sepsis or infection in burn patients. On January 20, 2007, the participants met in Tucson, Arizona to develop consensus for these definitions. After review of the definitions, a summary of the proceedings was prepared. The goal of the consensus conference was to develop and publish standardized definitions for sepsis and infection-related diagnoses in the burn population. Standardized definitions will improve the capability of performing more meaningful multicenter trials among burn centers.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a potentially fatal disorder that involves large areas of skin desquamation. Patients with TEN are often referred to burn centers for expert wound management and comprehensive care. The purpose of this study was to define the presenting characteristics and treatment of TEN before and after admission to regional burn centers and to evaluate the efficacy of burn center treatment for this disorder. A retrospective multicenter chart review was completed for patients admitted with TEN to 15 burn centers from 1995 to 2000. Charts were reviewed for patient characteristics, non-burn hospital and burn center treatment, and outcome. A total of 199 patients were admitted. Patients had a mean age of 47 years, mean 67.7% total body surface area skin slough, and mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score of 10. Sixty-four patients died, for a mortality rate of 32%. Mortality increased to 51% for patients transferred to a burn center more than one week after onset of disease. Burn centers and non-burn hospitals differed in their use of enteral nutrition (70 vs 12%, respectively, P < 0.05), prophylactic antibiotics (22 vs 37.9%, P < 0.05), corticosteroid use (22 vs 51%, P < 0.05), and wound management. Age, body surface area involvement, APACHE II score, complications, and parenteral nutrition before transfer correlated with increased mortality. The treatment of TEN differs markedly between burn centers and non-burn centers. Early transport to a burn unit is warranted to improve patient outcome.

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