retrospective study of 3896 burned patients

3896 burned patients are retrospectively studied from 1969 to 1976. Females slightly predominate males as regards incidence [57.3%: 42.7%]. Most patients are young [10. 30 years] and 41.1% of the cases have less than 10% S.A.B. Scalds, as a cause, comes first on the list followed by flame burns, while electric and chemical burns are least. Burns are mostly domestic in origin; industrial and traffic accident burns are minimal in our series. The overall mortality rate is 19.45% and the causes of death are acute renal failure, pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, septic shock, pulmonary embolism, secondary haemorrage and severe haematemesis. The average stay in hospital is 33.2 days

groin flap in skin loss of the hand and fingers with vulnerable deep structures

The groin flap has been used to provide a skin cover for 63 cases of crushing, degloving and avulsion injuries of the hand, thumb and ring finger. In all cases there was exposure of bones, tendons and other important structures. Machinery was the cause in the majority of cases. The results are satisfactory in 87.2%. The groin flap proved to be valuable in reconstruction of the hand-as it provides ample tissue, comfortable position, excellent venous and lymphatic drainage and a donor site which could be easily covered and lies in a naturally hidden area. It can also allow for very early movement of the hand and fingers and hence stiffness of the hand can he avoided