Tangential excision of burn wounds.

Mortality from burns has significantly declined during the last few decades. The decline in mortality is attributed to number of factors that improved over the years including the surgical technique of tangential excision. Since its introduction, the procedure has been under continuous scrutiny in efforts to determine the efficacy of the procedure. Tangential excision must be performed with careful attention to blood loss, patient body temperature, and viable tissue in order to be successful. The procedure has shown signs of improvement of the more conservative methods of burn treatment. The results, however, have some differing efficacy among the different body areas. It has been indicated that tangential excision provides better cosmetic results in facial burns. For hand burns, however, the results have not been significantly better than the conservative methods of treatment.