The Types of Impairments in Burn Patients

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the types of impairments in burn patients. METHOD: The retrospective data of 143 patients with burn injury was collected who were admitted to the burn rehabilitation department in Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital from Jan 2000 to Jul 2004. We have collected the informations on impairment of burn injury. RESULTS: Limitation of joint motion (78.6%) was the most common disability, followed by hypertrophic scar (53%), peripheral neuropathy (32.9%), and amputation (20.3%) in burn injured patients in rehabilitation management. The common sites of joint limitation were finger joint (38.1%), shoulder (35.7%), elbow (30.8%) and knee (28.0%) joint. Neuropathy by the order of frequency were median (29.7%), ulnar (22.6%) and peroneal (20.2%) nerve lesion. The most common site of amputation was transradial amputation (8.4%). CONCLUSION: Above analytic data will provide the useful information about disability of burn patients to know where we should focus on to reduce complication rate or to restore body functional level in burn patient rehabilitation.