study of burn injuries among children under 15 years old

ABSTRACT

This is a prospective clinical study, conducted as ismailia general hospital over a period of one year. In this study, 222 burned children were included. Their mean age was 4.8 years and males to females ratio was 1.21. The majority of children [55%] came from rural areas. Most of them [91.9%] sustained burns at home during tea or food preparation. So, scalds occurred in 74.3% of cases, flame burns in 22.9% and both electrical and chemical burns in 2% 2.8% of cases. Based on the extent and depth, 117 patients [52.7%] had minor burns, 54 patients [24.4%] had moderate and 15 patents [22.9%] had major burns. Sixty nine patients [31.1%] with moderate or major burns were hospitalized. The mean time of hospital stay was 22.8 days. Fluid therapy based on the total body surface area [tbsa] was found to be more efficient for resuscitation than that based on the body weight [parkland formula]. Surgical intervention was restricted to escharotomy for 7 patients [3.7%] and skin grafting for 54 patients [29%]. Out of 69 hospitalized patients, wound sepsis by staph aureus and pseudomonas aerogenosa occurred in 40 patients [54%]. The total mortality rate was 6.8%; septicemia and ciruatory collapse were the main causes of death