**2. Epidemiology of burn injuries and risk factors for burns**

Burns constitute a major health problem worldwide. Considerable amount of patients suffer or die from burn injuries globally. The burns mostly occur in low- and middle-income regions of the world [1, 4, 5]. Burn injuries occur more commonly in men at young adult age [5–8]; however, in elderly, female predominance is seen [5, 6, 8]. Alcohol usage, smoking, presence of open fire source or ground level stoves, wearing high-risk cloths (long, loose-fitting, synthetic), improper temperature setting of water heaters, use of unsafe electrical equipment, use of kerosene lamps, low socioeconomic status, overpopulation, illiteracy, unemployment, belonging to a large and single-parent family, and housing without adequate health and safety requirements are all reported to be risk factors for burn injury [4, 7, 9, 10].

of burn are all considered as risk factors for mortality [5–8, 10]. Flame burns are in general more fatal than contact burns. Mortality from burn injury is most commonly related to multiorgan failure and sepsis. Pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are

Introductory Chapter: An Introduction to Burn Injuries http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71973 5

In all, but especially pediatric and elderly burns, legal and ethical issues should be considered. As abuse and maltreatment may go unnoticed, identification of suspicious injuries by the physician is important. Delayed referral, suspicious and unreliable history, inconsistent explanations of parents or caregivers, tap water injury, and the presence of immersion lines

As most of the burns occur accidentally, prevention strategies remain the best approach in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with burns. Increasing knowledge about the epidemiology of burn injuries will aid in defining preventable risk factors that should be targeted. While safety interventions for work-related burns decrease the risk, certain cultural practices and social habits may be related with increased burn accidents in certain geographic regions. Although education and increased awareness of public play important roles in prevention strategies, the introduction of legislation and better regulations are more effective in reducing the burn injury. Additionally, enforcement of legislation is critical to

Systemic nature of the burn injury is unique that should be taken into consideration while approaching the patient. Understanding the pathophysiology of burn will provide useful information for early and effective management of burn patients, improve the quality of care for burn wounds, allow the identification of novel targets for the treatment of scar formation, and contribute to efforts to reduce the mortality. The local burn wound induces a generalized inflammatory response characterized by the activation of cytokines and release of various growth factors that can result in detrimental effects on many organs. The magnitude of this response depends on the severity of burn [1, 3, 5, 14, 15]. One of the distinct features of burn injury is that the cytokine-mediated signaling triggered by the tissue damage results in a generalized increase in capillary permeability and extravasation of plasma causing exaggerated edema response even at distant sites [3, 15]. Loss of intravascular fluid is accompanied by a decrease in cardiac output and increase in peripheral vascular resistance that may lead to hypoperfusion of organs and burn shock [1, 3, 15]. Hypercoagulability may occur due

are some of the clues that should raise the suspicion of abuse [3, 12, 13].

also associated with mortality [5, 8, 11].

**7. Precautions for burn patients**

increase the success of prevention programs [5, 9, 10].

**8. Pathophysiology of burn wounds**

**6. Ethical issues**
