ABSTRACT
Background: The guidelines for the treatment of severely burned patients, ineluded in the explicit guarantees in health care (GES), accept having a Garces' index over 70, among others, as an inclusion criterion. This criterion allows elderly patients with small total burn surface area (TBSA) to have access to GES. Aim: To analyze if a universal access to GES for this group of patients is justified. Material and Methods: Revision of medical records of adult patients admitted to a burn service. Causative agent, TBSA, associated illnesses and outcome were compared between 218 subjects aged 65 years or more and 720 subjects aged less than 65 years. Results: Older subjects had smaller TBSA, a lower prevalence of inhalation injury and more associated diseases. Their lethality was three times greater than that of younger subjects and their risk of dying. When adjusting for TBSA, presence of inhalation injury and associated diseases was 11 times greater. Conclusions: The inclusion of older people with lower TBSA in the explicit guarantees in health is fully justified, considering the lethality of burns in this age group.