In twenty-nine consecutive autopsies after burns that involved an average of 61 per cent of the body surface, 62 per cent of the histological sections of the intrinsic muscles of both hands showed patchy or total destruction of the muscles in one or more intrinsic compartments. Considering all of the twenty-seven totally burned upper extremities, 70 per cent had severe necrosis of one or more intrinsic muscles. Of the eighteen totally burned upper extremities in which escharotomy had been performed 72 per cent had severe intrinsic-muscle necrosis, while in the nine without escharotomy 66 per cent showed severe necrosis.