Analyzing Mortality in Burned Patients with Lethal Area 50.

Abstract

Background; Clinical outcome is the most measurable of the critical care activity. Although every burn center has its own particular limitations, it is clear that exists a minimum standard of survival after burn injury which is LA50 (Lethal Area 50). The aim of this study is to present demographic and epidemiologic features of severe burns in Albania in the period 2009-2019 and to analyze burn mortality as an important outcome measure analyzing LA 50. Material and Methods; The study is retrospective clinical and analytical. Since our burn center is the only one in the country it encompasses all the cases with moderate burns from the capital and severe burns. The data used are obtained by the analysis of the medical records of 1684 patients hospitalized in Burns Service ICU near University Hospital Center in Tirana, Albania during 2009-2019. Results; While comparing the decade (2009-2019) with the previous one (1998-2008) there is a progressive decrease of mortality (6.89% versus 10.5%) of our burn patient population although mean BSA (%) burned increased to 25.6±19.1 % (versus 22.8±14.7%). LA 50 for all patients was 80.04%, for children was 77.7%, for adults was 87% and for elderly was 52.28%. The mortality rate of all ICU burns as an average for 2009-2019 was 0.35 cases per 100000 population/year. Conclusions; The long-term studies and the comparison of our results with the ones of other burn centers have allowed us to determine the actual level of care and as well as to build up contemporary protocols in order to improve the treatment with the objection decreasing the mortality. Improvements in overall mortality expressed by LA 50 noticed it as an important outcome measure.

Keywords

• Burns
• Mortality
• Lethal Area 50