PHTLS - Prehospital Trauma Life Support Burns and Thermal Injuries Flashcards
6 cards from real PHTLS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 PHTLS - Prehospital Trauma Life Support Burns and Thermal Injuries flashcards as text
When calculating fluid resuscitation using the Parkland formula (4 mL × kg × %TBSA), what proportion of the total 24-hour volume should be given in the first 8 hours?
Answer: 50%
The Parkland formula calls for 50% of the calculated 24-hour volume to be infused in the first 8 hours from the time of burn, with the remaining 50% over the next 16 hours.
Which circumferential burn complication requires escharotomy and presents with absent distal pulses and a tight, pale extremity?
Answer: Compartment syndrome from eschar constriction
Circumferential full-thickness burns create rigid eschar that constricts swelling tissue, causing compartment syndrome that requires escharotomy to restore circulation.
A patient has burns to both anterior forearms and the anterior chest. Using the Rule of Nines, what is the approximate TBSA burned?
Answer: 22.5%
Anterior chest = 18%, each anterior forearm = 4.5% (half of 9% per arm); total = 18 + 4.5 + 4.5 = approximately 22.5% TBSA.
What is the primary danger of applying ice directly to a burn wound?
Answer: It causes frostbite and worsens tissue injury while accelerating hypothermia
Ice causes vasoconstriction that worsens burn depth, can cause frostbite of injured tissue, and significantly contributes to systemic hypothermia.
Which burn characteristic classifies a burn as a 'critical burn' requiring transfer to a burn center per ABA guidelines?
Answer: Partial thickness burns greater than 10% TBSA in a healthy adult
The American Burn Association criteria for burn center referral include partial thickness burns >10% TBSA, burns involving face/hands/feet/genitalia/perineum, full thickness burns, and chemical or electrical burns.
In an electrical burn patient, which systemic injury not visible on the skin surface must be assumed and monitored for?
Answer: Rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria causing renal failure
Electrical current causes deep muscle destruction; myoglobin released from damaged muscle precipitates in renal tubules, causing acute kidney injury.
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