[The type, volume and interval between operations in deep burns of the lower extremities]

The most appropriate type and extent of the operations and the intervals between them in deep burns of the lower extremities are specified on the basis of experience with 600 operations performed on 416 patients. The most common operation was free skin autotransplantation, performed in 636 cases (96.36 per cent). The most appropriate extent of the operations is considered a 660 sq cm surface area of the autografts. This was used in 213 operations (57.26 per cent). The number of operations depended on the surface area of the deep burn. In burned area of up to 10 per cent the operations were two, up to 20 per cent--three and more than 20 per cent--more than four. In patients with burned surface up to 20 per cent the interval between the second and the third operation was within the range from 18 to 50 days and in burns involving more than 20 per cent surface--between 13 and 16 days; the last operations were performed 26 to 30 days later after the state of well-being of the patients had been stabilized.