Pattern of Burn Injuries and Outcome in Children

Abstract

Objective: To identify the cause and factors associated with mortality in burn injuries among the children. Study design: A hospital-based cross-sectional study Patients & Method: A total of 94 children admitted during September 2009 to March 2010 at a tertiary care hospital were included. The variables investigated include age, gender, type of burn, percentage of body surfacearea burnt, hospital stay and clinical outcome. Results: Out of 94 children 48 (51.06%) were male and 46 (48.93%) were female. Mean age was 8.97 ± 4.64years. Children above 6 years were more affected and flame or fire was the leading cause of burn injuries, whereas scald burns affected children less than 6 years of age. Over all mortality was 22.8% and more deathswere noticed in children above 6 year. Mean TBSA was 24.91 ± 24.15 and mean hospital stay was 6.95 ± 6.81days. 90% mortality was observed in children with TBSA > 60%. A significant association was found betweenTBSA and mortality (p-value <0.000).There was also a significant association between age of the child andcausative agent (p - value<0.000). Conclusion: Females with flame burn injuries were more affected in age group above 6 years, while children at pre-school age were affected by scalds. It indicates that burn injuries mainly occur in domestic setup and aretherefore preventable. More vulnerable group includes children with TBSA between 30 and 60% and requiresmore intensive treatment to reduce the mortality.

Keywords

• burns
• children
• scalds
• mortality
• total body surface area (tbsa).