This retrospective analysis evaluated burns at Children's Hospital of Michigan from 1998 to 2006. The authors analyzed admitted patients to their burn team. Annually, 200 patients are admitted and 1200 patients are treated as outpatients. Admission criteria included any 3rd degree burns, 2nd degree burns over 5% of total body surface area, lightning burns, circumferential burns, abuse-related burns, and burns to the face, hands, perineum, and joints. During this study, 2117 patients were admitted, with ages ranging from 0.1 to 19.7 years. Mean age was 5 years and the mode was 1.2 years. Forty percent of the burns happened in the kitchen (with 50% of those being scalds), and 7% of the burns were related to abuse (most likely occurring to victims less than 1 year old). The authors emphasize the importance of considering abuse when evaluating burns in children, and emphasizing cooking precautions to avoid burns in the kitchen.
(Clin Ped. 2011;50:391–5) A Shah, S Suresh, R Thomas, et al.
Prepared by Anil Menon, MD, UTMB/NASA Aerospace Medicine Fellow, Galveston, TX, USA