Burn

Burn
Classification and external resources
Electrical burn entrance wound on a person's back.
ICD-10	T20.–T31.
ICD-9	940–949
MedlinePlus	000030
MeSH	D002056

A burn is an injury to a person's skin or flesh caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or radiation.^[1] Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids, solids, or fire.^[2] While rates are similar for males and females the underlying causes often differ.^[3] Among women in some areas, risk is related to use of open cooking fires or unsafe stoves.^[3] Among men, risk is more related to the work environments.^[3] Alcoholism and smoking are other risk factors.^[3] Burns can also occur as a result of self harm or violence between people.^[3]

Burns can be very serious injuries, and can even cause death. Depending on how deep the burn goes and amount of skin affected, a burn can be a medical emergency. For children, at least five percent of the skin needs to be affected. Adults can tolerate up to ten percent of affected skin.

Burns of a certain extent affect the body as a whole: Common reactions are circulatory shock, systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis.

1. ↑ Herndon D, ed. (2012). "Chapter 4: Prevention of Burn Injuries". Total burn care (4th ed.). Edinburgh: Saunders. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-4377-2786-9.
2. ↑ "Burns Fact sheet N°365". WHO. April 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} "Burns". World Health Organization. September 2016. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.