With an overall incidence of more than 800 cases per 1 million persons per year, only motor vehicle accidents cause more accidental deaths than burns. Advances in trauma and burn management over the past three decades have resulted in improved survival and reduced morbidity from major burns. Twenty-five years ago, the mortality rate of a 50% body surface area burn in a young adult was about 50%, despite treatment. Today, that same burn results in less than 10% mortality. Ten years ago, an 80 to 90% body surface area burn yielded 10% survival. Today, over 50% of these patients survive
