Burn Surgery & Reconstruction

UR Medicine and our Kessler Burn & Trauma Center provide burn care from the time of injury through long-term rehabilitation.

Throughout the healing process, we use the most advanced technologies and innovative treatments available, such as skin grafts, vacuum-assisted closure techniques (VAC) and reconstructive burn surgery.

• Skin Graft Surgery: Skin graft surgery uses healthy skin "donated" from one area of a patient's body and transplanted to the injured area. When a patient's healthy skin is limited due to injury or is too weak, skin from another person, animal, or a manufactured skin substitute can be used. Another possibility is to use cultured skin—new skin grown in a lab from the patient's own skin cells.
• Reconstructive Burn Surgery: UR Medicine’s Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery team provides both surgical and non-surgical treatment options for altering scar tissue and reconstructing areas of the skin impacted by complex burns. These treatments often take several months and will not remove the scars entirely but may help to improve function.

Burn Rehabilitation

Our goal in treating burn patients is to help them recover as fully, quickly, and comfortably as possible. That means caring for the whole person, not just the damaged tissue, focusing not only on medical and surgical procedures, but also on the broad range of physical, social, and psychological issues that accompany traumatic injuries.

We place strong emphasis on aggressive physical and occupational therapy. Patients receive occupational and physical therapy every day they’re in the hospital, starting with an evaluation within 24 hours of their admission to the Kessler Burn Center.

Occupational therapists help splint, stretch, and work with the scars of the healed burn wound. They make custom splints, face masks, and other devices to help burn survivors complete activities of daily living and transfer more easily. Our physical therapists help patients get stronger and increase their range of motion and mobility. The Center’s fully equipped therapy room, exclusively for burn and trauma patients, is staffed around the clock. We provide continuity of care by utilizing the same team to work with patients on an ongoing basis even after they go home.

Other members of our multidisciplinary burn team offer services such as:

• Chaplain services
• Social services: Our social workers help burn survivors and their families cope with everything from social issues to managing the financial aspects of their treatment.
• Nutritional services: Our nutritionists are key to the healing process. They meet with patients and design nutrition plans to support healing and recovery.

Burn Recovery Diet

Because it takes a lot of energy to heal, patients need many more calories than normal when they're recovering from a burn injury. That's why nutrition is a major component of burn treatment.

Our nutritionists evaluate patients' dietary needs as soon as possible. We use several scientific formulas, usually based on their height and weight (body mass), among other things, to determine how many calories they'll actually need. But because no one formula is perfect, their nutritionist and physicians will watch them closely to evaluate and adjust their diet as needed.

An adequate diet can reduce the damaging loss of lean body mass, stored energy, and protein. Without proper nutrition, you may slow the healing process, lose too much weight, and suppress your immune system.

In general, patients get a high-protein diet that also includes fat, plus vitamin and mineral supplements.

Protein

Patients need a lot of protein while healing because the body will lose protein through the burn wounds and muscles will break down trying to produce extra energy for the healing process. The additional protein helps rebuild lost muscle.

Carbohydrates

They also need more carbohydrates in their diet when recovering from a burn. In fact, carbohydrates make up the bulk of their nutrition. The body will turn the carbohydrates into glucose. Burn wounds use glucose for energy. In fact, they can't use any other source. By providing this energy for healing, carbohydrates allow the protein eaten to rebuild muscle, rather than be used as fuel.

Fat

We also include fat in the diet to provide essential fatty acids and extra calories. But normally no more than 30% of the calories will come from fat. Too much fat can weaken the immune system.

Patients should follow the diet plan. It's very important that they do everything they can to get proper nutrition. An adequate diet can reduce the damaging loss of lean body mass and stored energy and protein. An inadequate diet can slow the healing process, cause too much weight loss, and suppress the immune system.

Burn Clinic

In addition to the Kessler Burn & Trauma Center, the UR Medicine Burn Clinic provides rapid care for people with burns that are not life-threatening. The Burn Clinic allows you to avoid a wait in one of our health system’s Emergency Departments