The history of burns treatment in Sweden

The history of burns treatment in Sweden shows that not until an organized Burns Unit was established in 1954 was there any real progress in this field. From that date and onward the treatment of burns has continuously been improved based on results from experimental and clinical research. It is interesting to note that most of the burn research during this period has slowly changed from description of different organ failures towards studies of functional disturbances on cell level. The resuscitation following thermal injury is nowadays usually under control. The greatest problems arise later, caused by hypermetabolism, malnutrition and burn wound sepsis. The combined treatment with aggressive surgery, hyperalimentation, environmental control, avoidance of multiple organ failure etc., mainly based on results from the last 20 years of burn research, has significantly increased the survival rate of severe thermal injuries.