Burn degree reference

Quick reference

Burns are graded in medical references by depth of tissue injury, with each degree associated with characteristic appearance, sensation, and healing trajectory. The values below summarize the burn-depth grading cited in the Wikipedia Burn article and reflected in American Burn Association and Wilderness Medical Society references. The Wallace 'rule of nines' for estimating body surface area involved is also commonly cited in burn-management references and is included here. Burn depth and total body surface area together determine evacuation priority and definitive-care needs.

Reference texts describe pain as an unreliable indicator of severity in isolation

superficial burns are typically very painful, partial-thickness burns are even more so, but full-thickness burns may be relatively painless because pain receptors in the skin have been destroyed. The visible appearance — color, blistering, leathery quality, and capillary refill in the burned area — is described as more reliable than pain for estimating depth in the field. Special-anatomy burns (face, hands, feet, perineum, major joints), circumferential burns of any extremity, electrical and chemical burns, and any burn associated with airway involvement are described in references as evacuation triggers regardless of total surface area.