title: Analysis of burn injury by digital simulation.
abstract: A non-linear mathematical model for digital simulation of fluid distribution in burn patients during the first 48 h after injury is presented. The technique employed in the model construction is the system dynamic approach. A five-compartment model has been considered. The control mechanisms incorporated are adequate for describing the interactions between plasma and interstitial fluid and between the extra- and intracellular compartments. With the model we are able to analyse the dynamic behaviour of many variables, for example the plasma, interstitial, extra- and intracellular fluid volumes and the plasma and interstitial proteins in burn and non-burn areas. These values are very difficult to measure in daily clinical practice, although they indicate the actual state of a burn patient. The simulation results are compared with measured values in a series of patients from a burn unit in a general hospital.
authors.affiliation: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Roa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gómez-Cia
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cantero
mesh_terms: D001825:Body Fluid Compartments; D002056:Burns / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological