The early management of burn patients requires a set of supportive procedures in addition to excision and closure operations. Most supportive procedures related to vascular access, tracheostomy, and enteral feeding access are identical to those required by trauma patients and are not covered here. Unique to this group of patients are the decompression procedures generally required in the first 12 to 24 hours of care. Subsequently, acute excision and closure operations dominate patients' needs. These operations have evolved in recent years to be less ablative, less bloody, and less physiologically stressful.
