Epidemiology of Children’s Burn Trauma in South Moravia A comparative study after 15 years
Authors:
B. Lipový; I. Suchánek; H. Řihová; Y. Kaloudová; R. Mager; H. Krupicová
Authors‘ workplace:
Klinika popálenin a rekonstrukční chirurgie FN Brno
přednosta prof. MUDr. P. Brychta, CSc.
Published in:
Čes-slov Pediat 2010; 65 (1): 3-9.
Category:
Original Papers
Overview
Objective:
The objective of the study was to determine the difference in incidence of burn trauma and other epidemiological indicators in paediatric patients received into our clinic in 1991–1993 and in 2006–2008.
Type:
Retrospective, mono-centric.
Office:
Clinic of Burns and Reconstructive Surgery, Teaching Hospital, Brno.
Material and methodology:
A total of 835 children diagnosed with a burn injury were received into our clinic during the monitored periods. Basic epidemiological indicators were then assessed in this group (incidence, mortality, sex, age, length of hospitalisation, etiologic agent, burn injury severity, etc.) and compared with each other.
Results:
The study compared two homogenous age groups (0–14 years).
Group 1 was formed by children hospitalised at our clinic in 1991–1993. The total number of children was 394. The catchment area of our clinic registered 414 832 children aged 0–14 years. The average size of burned areas was 9.3% TBSA (total body surface area). The average injury incidence in the specified period was 31.1 per 100 000. The group mostly at risk of burn injuries was children aged 1–3. The average length of hospitalisation in the first period was 15.8 days (2–165 days). Burns exceeding 30% TBSA were represented by 26 cases (i.e. 6.6% of the total number of hospitalised children).
Group 2 was formed by children hospitalised at our clinic in 2006–2008. Number of hospitalised children: 441. Our catchment area registered only 333 053 children aged 0–14 years in the second period. The average size of burned area was 6.9% TBSA. The average incidence reached 44.9 per 100 000. As in group 1, the most affected group were children aged 1–3. The average length of hospitalisation dropped to 8.5 days (2–73 days) in group 2 as well as the number of children with burns exceeding 30% TBSA, which dropped to 12 cases (i.e. 2.7% of the total number of hospitalised children).
Discussion:
During the last 15 years, the Czech Republic has experienced geographical and administrative changes (transformation of number of regions) as well as demographic changes (decrease in natality – fewer children in the CR). In addition to these, burn traumas were centralised, which provided for an increase in the quality of medical and nursing care for this type of injury. The shared campaign run by the Ministry of Health and the Czech Railways in 2007–2008 appears to have been successful, resulting in a decrease in the number of electrical traumas on the railways, especially in adolescent boys. The above data indicates that prevention should focus on children aged 1–3 years (incl. their parents) and on the household environment. The decrease in the length of hospitalisation is the consequence of better covering materials, which frequently make it possible to complete the healing process by means of outpatient treatment.
Conclusion:
We managed to collect basic epidemiological data from the two above groups of children and to demonstrate the success of prevention and therapy in children’s burn trauma by comparing these data.
Key words:
burns, children, epidemiology, prevention
Sources
1. National Vital Statistics System. Deaths. Final data for 1997. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1999;47(19): 1–105.
2. National Center for Health Statistics. Hospitalizations for Indry, United States 1996. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1996;318: 1–10.
3. Herndon DN. Total Burn Care. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier, 2007: 1–485.
4. Bull JP, Fisher AJ. A study in mortality in a burn unit: standards for the evaluation for alternative methods of treatment. Ann. Surg. 1949;130: 160–173.
5. Herndon DN, Gore DC, Cole M, et al. Determinants of mortality in pediatric patiens with greater then 70% full thickness total body surface area treated by early excision and rafting. J. Trauma 1987;27: 208–212.
6. Dědovič Z, Brychta P, Koupilová I, Suchánek I. Epidemiology of childhood burns at the Burn Centre in Brno, Czech Republic. Burns 1996; Mar 22(2): 125–129.
7. Rimmer RB, Weigand S, Foster KN, Wadsworth MM, Jacober K, Matthews MR, Drachman D, Caruso DM. Scald burns in young children – a review of Arizona burn center pediatric patients and a proposal for prevention in the Hispanic community. J. Burn Care Res. 2008; Jul-Aug 29(4): 595–605.
8. Spinks A, Wasiak J, Cleland H, Beben N, Macpherson AK. Ten-year epidemiological study of pediatric burns in Canada. J. Burn Care Res. 2008; May-Jun 29(3): 482–488.
9. Kai-Yang L, Zhao-Fan X, Luo-Man Z, Yi-Tao J, Tao T, Wei W, Bing M, Jie X, Yu W, Yu S. Epidemiology of pediatric burns requiring hospitalization in China: a literature review of retrospective studies. Pediatrics 2008; Jul 122(1): 132–142.
10. Palmieri TL, Alderson TS, Ison D, O´Mara MS, Sharma R, Bubba A, Coombs E, Greenhalgh DG. Pediatric soup scald burn injury: etiology and preventive. J. Burn Care Res. 2008; Jan-Feb 29(1): 114–118.
11. Xin W, Yin Z, Qin Z, Jian L, Tanuseputro P, Gomez M, Beveridge M, Zhenjiang L. Characteristics of 1494 pediatric burn patients in Shanghai. Burns 2006; Aug 32(5): 613–618.
12. Haik J, Liran A, Tessone A, Givon A, Orenstein A, Peleg K. Burns in Israel: demographic, etiologic and clinical trends, 1997–2003. Isr. Med. Assoc. J. 2007; Sep 9(9): 659–662.
13. Light TD, Latenser BA, Heinle JA, Stolpen MS, Quinn KA, Ravindran V, Chacko J. Demographics of pediatric burns in Vellore, India. J. Burn Care Res. 2009; Jan-Feb 30(1): 50–54.
14. Sharma PN, Bang RL, Al-Fadhli AN, Sharma P, Bang S, Ghoneim IE. Pediatric burns in Kuwait: Incidence, causes and mortality. Burns 2006; Feb 32(1): 104–111.
15. Akita S, Nakagawa H, Tanaka K, Hirano A. Analysis of pediatric burns in Nagasaki University from 1983–2002. Burns 2005; Dec 31(8): 1041–1044.
16. Mashreky SR, Rahman A, Chowdhury SM, Giashuddin S, Svanstrom L, Linnan M, Shafinaz S, Uhaa IJ, Rahman F. Epidemiology of childhood burn: Yield of largest community based injury survey in Bangladesh. Burns 2008; Sep 34(6): 856–862.
17. Thombs BD, Singh VA, Milner SM. Children under 4 years are at greater risk of mortality following acute burn injury: evidence from a national sample of 19,902 pediatric admissions. Shock 2006; Oct 26(4): 348–352.
18. Tse T, Poon CHY, Tse KH, Tsui TK, Ayyapan T, Burd A. Paediatric burn prevention: An epidemiological approach. Burns 2006; Mar 32(2): 229–234.
19. Alaghehbandan R, Rossignol AM, Lari AR. Pediatric burn injuries in Tehran, Iran. Burns 2001; Mar 27(2): 115–118.
Labels
Neonatology Paediatrics General practitioner for children and adolescentsArticle was published in
Czech-Slovak Pediatrics
2010 Issue 1
Most read in this issue
- Urinary Tract Infections in Adolescents
- Complementary Nutrition – Commentary of the Committee for Nutrition ESPGHAN
- Gastric Rupture in Premature Newborn
- Salmonella Arthritis of Talocrural Joint in a Suckling