Influence of the burn wound on peripheral circulation in thermally injured patients

Simultaneous measurements of resting leg blood flow and surface and rectal temperatures were made in 45 studies of 9 normal subjects and 28 burn patients. The patients had burns from 3-86% of the total body surface with leg injury ranging from 0-87.5% of the leg surface. In the patient group, blood flow was essentially normal in the uninjured legs, increased in a curvilinear manner with the size of the leg burn, and approached a plateau of 8.0 ml/100 ml-min as the percent of leg burn exceeded 60%. Increasing the leg surface temperature by 5 degrees C increased blood flow in patients with burned and unburned extremities to the same extent as in normal subjects. Increased peripheral blood flow following thermal injury is directed primarily to the burn wound. Variations in surface temperature modify this peripheral vascular response to injury.