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  4. Burn Treatments

Burn Treatments

The West Penn Burn Center offers advanced burn and wound therapies, many of which aren’t available at traditional medical centers.

Burn treatments at West Penn Hospital

You have access to the latest technologies and therapies at the West Penn Burn Center. Our leading-edge treatments include:

  • Advanced hydration: Burn centers across the country have adopted our patient-specific fluid resuscitation management protocols to manage and prevent dehydration.
  • Electromagnetic-guided feeding tubes: Our highly skilled nurses use an electromagnetic sensor while inserting feeding tubes to secure proper placement. This technique ensures the appropriate amount of nutrition within hours of admission to the Burn Center.
  • Hydrotherapy: We use immersion and shower hydrotherapy to clean wounds, remove damaged tissue, and assess the healing process.
  • Innovative burn dressings: We use silver dressings that eliminate the need for daily changes, thereby minimizing pain.
  • Reconstructive procedures: We specialize in surgeries to release burn contractures, or tight skin that develops after a severe burn. Our plastic surgeons are experts at minimizing the appearance of scars.
  • Sophisticated wound-closing techniques: We tailor therapy to your specific injury. We may use skin grafts taken from another part of your body or a donor. We also use cellular- and tissue-based skin substitutes to protect wounds from injury and infection as they heal. 

Wound care 

Our expertise in treating burns also applies to chronic, nonhealing wounds. We provide specialized care for hard-to-heal wounds caused by diabetes, trauma, surgery, and other medical issues. 

Skin disease care

We also treat skin and soft tissue disorders that mimic burn injuries, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). These potentially life-threatening diseases usually occur as a result of a drug reaction or infection. People with SJS or TEN may develop rashes, sores, and peeling skin. Blisters, similar to a burn injury, can form on the mucous membranes inside the mouth, eyes, and vagina.

Contact us

Call (412) 578-5273 to speak to a specialist at the West Penn Burn Center inpatient unit. Call (412) 578-5120 for the outpatient clinic.

Find us

West Penn Hospital
North Tower, Second Floor
4800 Friendship Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
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