pathophysiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
Full thickness dermal burns to the skin produce a thick, non-compliant eschar. If this is circumferential, it limits the ability of the skin to expand with oedema and individual parts of the body to move relative to each other.
In the chest, a circumferential eschar can prevent the normal excursion of respiration. In the limbs, constriction can cause a diminuition of blood supply distally with resultant ischaemia. A compartment syndrome may develop from venous impairment as oedema progresses.