TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Burns A1 - Doherty, Gerard M. Y1 - 2010 N1 - T2 - Quick Answers Surgery AB - • Skin is the largest organ of the body, ranging from 0.25 m2 in infants to 1.8 m2 in adults• Skin has 2 layers: epidermis and dermis-The outermost cells of the epidermis are dead cornified cells that act as a tough protective barrier-The dermis is chiefly composed of fibrous connective tissue and contains the blood vessels and nerves to the skin and epithelial appendages of specialized function-The dermis prevents loss of body fluids and loss of excess body heat• Nerve endings that mediate pain are found only in the corium-Partial-thickness injuries may be extremely painful-Full-thickness burns are usually painless• Second-degree (or partial-thickness) burns are deeper, involving all of the epidermis and some of the dermis-The systemic severity and quality of subsequent healing are related to the amount of undamaged dermis• Complications are rare from superficial partial-thickness burns and usually heal in 10-14 days• Deep partial-thickness burns heal over 25-35 days with a fragile epithelial covering that arises from residual uninjured epithelium of the deep dermal sweat glands and hair follicles-Severe hypertrophic scarring occurs when such an injury heals-Evaporative losses remain high-Conversion to full-thickness by bacteria is common• Skin grafting, when feasible, improves the physiologic quality and appearance of the skin cover SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/20 UR - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=58105031 ER -