Pathophysiology of burn injury

Burn injury represents a significant problem worldwide. More than 1 million burn injuries occur annually in the United States. Although most of these burn injuries are minor, approximately 40,000 to 60,000 burn patients require admission to a hospital or major burn center for appropriate treatment every year [1]. The devastating consequences of burns have been recognized by the medical community and significant amounts of resources and research have been dedicated, successfully improving these dismal statistics: Recent reports revealed a 50% decline in burn-related deaths and hospital admissions in the USA over the last 20 years; mainly due to effective prevention strategies, decreasing the number and severity of burns [2, 3].