The Therapeutic Significance of Plasma Protein Replacement in Severe Burns

Of the 5,000 deaths each year in the United States attributed to the effect of severe burns, many could undoubtedly be avoided by adequate replacement therapy in this serious type of injury. An excellent clinical lecture on the treatment of burns is the recent one by McClure;1he has discussed the various theories of the etiology of death, among which are hepatic insufficiency, infection, toxemia, adrenal insufficiency and, finally, the theory which explains most of the general manifestations on the idea that there is an extensive loss of protein. It is this last aspect of the problem which I believe is the most important and which I wish to emphasize. This is of particular practical importance since it concerns the type and amount of fluids that are administered to a severely burned patient. It will be part of my purpose to present observations indicating that the type of fluid