Surgical treatment of the deeply burned hand

An individualized treatment programme has been used in the management of deeply burned hands based on early excision of third-degree burns and delayed excision of mixed deep second-degree and third-degree burns. The function of the hand has been a crucial object both before surgery by means of treatment with gloves and postoperatively by exposure treatment. Six out of 25 hands have needed reconstructive procedures. By the follow-up respectively 86 per cent of the hands treated by early excision and 88 per cent of the hands treated by delayed excision have obtained a good functional and cosmetic result. We recommend both methods, but find that they have to be used separately for each particular burn.