Burn injury in the aged patient

It is a tragedy when an aged patient dies after sustaining a minor burn. Although many reported series illustrate the poor prognosis of burn injury in the elderly, the number of patients studied is often small. In a 10-year-period, 276 patients aged over 60 years were admitted to the Wessex Regional Burn Centre following acute burn injury. These patients represented 16 per cent of all acute burn admissions, and were studied in a retrospective review. Various data on mortality and burn size incidence are presented for this traditionally regarded high risk group.