Emergency War Surgery NATO Handbook: Part I: Types of Wounds and Injuries: Chapter III: Burn Injury
Burn Wound Excision
United States Department of Defense
Surgical excision of the burned tissue, commonly performed in civilian practice, has no place in the care of burn patients in the theater of operations. The extensive blood loss associated with a burn wound excision, up to 9% of circulating blood volume per each 5% of body surface area excised, would impose a prodigious and unnecessary need on the military blood supply system, and the surgical manpower expended on lengthy excisions would divert such personnel from the care of other casualties in whom surgical treatment could directly influence survival. The time required for skin graft maturation, permitting return to active duty, even precludes excision for patients with third-degree burns of limited extent in the theater of operations.