Lactate in the burn patient

Severe burns result in rapid loss of intravascular volume due to development of a severe capillary leak and hypovolemic shock. It is widely accepted that traditional markers, such as blood pressure and urinary output, are useful but do not sufficiently reflect global perfusion, regional microcirculation or reversal shock. Blood lactate concentration is widely used in ICUs as a reliable prognostic marker of global tissue hypoxia. Our aim is to determine whether the percentage of lactate clarified in the first 24 hours is valid as a guide for resuscitation.