Quotation from: Manual of Surgery

Written by: Alexander Miles and Alexis Thomson


The _second period_ begins when the shock passes off, and lasts till the
sloughs separate. The outstanding feature of this period is _toxaemia_,
manifested by fever, the temperature rising to 102, 103, or 104 F.,
and congestive or inflammatory conditions of internal organs, giving
rise to such clinical complications as bronchitis, broncho-pneumonia, or
pleurisy--especially in burns of the thorax; or meningitis and
cerebritis, when the neck or head is the seat of the burn. Intestinal
catarrh associated with diarrhoea is not uncommon; and ulceration of the
duodenum leading to perforation has been met with in a few cases. These
phenomena are much more prominent when bacterial infection has taken
place, and it seems probable that they are to be attributed chiefly to
the infection, as they have become less frequent and less severe since
burns have been treated like other breaches of the surface. Albuminuria
is a fairly constant symptom in severe burns, and is associated with
congestion of the kidneys. In burns implicating the face, neck, mouth,
or pharynx, oedema of the glottis is a dangerous complication, entailing
as it does the risk of suffocation.

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