Burn Care

Ohio State’s Adult Burn Center

The Ohio State Comprehensive Burn Center is the only adult ABA-verified Burn Center in central Ohio. Being an ABA-verified burn center provides a true mark of distinction for a burn center. Verification is an indicator to government, third-party providers, patients, families and credit organizations, that the center provides high quality patient care to burn patients from time of injury through rehabilitation. The American Burn Association (ABA) offers this program to verify that a burn center is meeting the highest current standards of care for the burn-injured patient. Our team of specialists treats a variety of burns, ranging from minor to severe in an inpatient and outpatient setting.

We offer inpatient and outpatient services including:

• Advanced dressing options to minimize pain, scarring and other complications
• Wound care and complex wound management
• Comprehensive care team to address the needs of patients and their families including the physical, mental, emotional and social aspects of burns extending beyond the walls of the hospital
• Treatment for all burns, small to large with special emphasis on 
  • Third-degree burns
  • Burns to the face, hands, feet, genitalia, perineum and joints
  • Electrical burns and lightning strikes
  • Chemical burns
  • Burns in patients with comorbid conditions
  • Scar management and reconstruction after burn recovery
  • Inhalation injury

Once you have burns that are blistering in the second degree, that’s when you should seek expert care.

Burn Center rehabilitation is provided at Dodd Hall Inpatient Rehabilitation, which has been ranked among the best in the country by U.S.News & World Report. Also part of the Medical Center’s Level 1 Trauma Center, our burn center offers physical and occupational therapy, speech language therapy, social work, psychological, spiritual and nutritional services.

What are burns?

A burn is damage to your body's tissues caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight or radiation. Scalds from hot liquids and steam, building fires and flammable liquids and gases are the most common causes of burns.

There are three types of burns:

• First-degree burns damage only the outer layer of skin
• Second-degree burns damage the outer layer and the layer underneath
• Third-degree burns damage or destroy the deepest layer of skin and tissues underneath

Burns can cause swelling, blistering, scarring and, in serious cases, shock and even death. They also can lead to infections because they damage your skin's protective barrier. Antibiotic creams can prevent or treat infections. After a third-degree burn, you need skin or synthetic grafts to cover exposed tissue and encourage new skin to grow. First- and second-degree burns usually heal without grafts.

Other types of burns include inhalation injury, caused by breathing smoke, and tissue damage from cold injuries such as frost bite. The Burn Center also treats patients with exfoliative disease such as Stevens-Johnsons Disease and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TENS).