Review of Pediatric Burn Injuries in Egypt

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Most childhood burns can be avoided if proper preventive measures, public education, and continuing medical education are applied. These actions are especially important in general hospitals, which are the first lines of management to provide good burn care facilities as near to the place of injury as possible. Here, we described the first aid and initial management of patients at our center, which are still far from ideal and which could explain the high mortality rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 507 acutely burned pediatric patients admitted to the Burn Unit of Ain Shams University (Cairo, Egypt) from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2020. Our objective was to analyze risk factors and demographic and epidemiological features of patients in our area, which could be used to define preventive measures that can be implemented to minimize burns in children and provide better quality of patient care. RESULTS: Of 7450 patients with burns patients who presented to our unit during the study period, 2831 were children between 2 months and 14 years (representing 38.0% of the total number). There were 1678 total admissions for all age groups during this period, and 507 were children, representing 30.2% of total admissions. Male-to-female ratio was 1.38:1. Four age groups were distinguished, according to children’s main activities and behavior, with 130 children (25.5%) <1 year of age, 242 children (47.8%) from 2 to 3 years of age, 109 children (21.5%) from 4 to 7 years of age, and 26 children (5.3%) from 8 to 14 years of age. Average age was 4.09 years. The burns occurred predominantly during the winter. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis showed that most pediatric burns were avoidable.