[Anaesthesia for the severe burn patient (author's transl)]

By means of medical records, anaesthesia protocols and autopsy reports on 59 severely burnt patients of all age and risk groups, the three anaesthetic procedures mainly used in this group of patients-NLA, inhalation narcosis with halothane and Ketamine mono-anaesthesia-were retrospectively compared with regard to intra-operative complications and mortality. All the patients were in the initial phase of the treatment of burns, and had to undergo a variety of surgical interventions; these included changes of dressing, tracheotomy, necrotomy and skin grafts. Special pathophysiological problems of burns with particular consideration of the cardiocascular system, the lungs, the kidneys, and the electrolyte and acid-base balance are pointed out. Attention is drawn to the decisive importance of "preanaesthetic management" and to the specific technical problems of anaesthesia in patients suffering from burns. Each of the anaesthetic procedures discussed proved to be fundamentally suitable for the anaesthesia of persons suffering from very severe burns. Each of the anaesthetic procedures discussed proved to be fundamentally suitable for the anaesthesia of persons suffering from very severe burns. It should be left to the individual to decide which procedure in his experience should be preferred for a particular case.