Epidemiological study of Burn injuries at Nepal Cleft and Burn Centre Kathmandu

Authors

  • Dr Ajay Dhakal

Keywords:

Burn epidemiology, Burn injury, Burn management

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Burn is one of the major global public health problem associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Southeast Asia is considered as “the epicenter of burn injuries” because more than half of the fire-related deaths occur in Southeast Asia alone. With adequate awareness program it is a preventable condition. We aim to provide an overview of the basic epidemiological characteristics of burn patients admitted at Nepal Cleft and Burn center in Kathmandu.


METHOD: A prospective descriptive study was conducted in the patients presenting with the burn injury at the department of Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of Nepal cleft and burn center, Kritipur, after taking informed consent from June 2022 to October 2022 Burn Injuries of 194 consecutive patients were assessed.


RESULT: There were a total of 194 patients enrolled in the study. The burn injuries were found to be slightly more common in males (59.7%) than in females (40.3%) with high incidence in children and young adult. Flame burn (45.3%) being most common mode of injury followed by scald burn (26.2%) and high incidence of injury was found to be in kitchen while cooking(54%). This might be because firewood and kerosene oil are still common source of energy to cook food. The maximum number of patients 102(61.8%) had less than 20% TBSA burn. The commonly involved area was the upper extremity followed by the lower extremity. The most common surgical procedure was STSG or flap coverage. Though most of the patients (78.5%) were treated successfully and discharged, few patients (8.7%) refused to continue treatment and went home against medical advice and 24 patients (12.3%) expired during the course of treatment.


CONCLUSION: Burn injury is one of the common public health problem in our country. Children and female are at higher risk. Burn injuries are frequently sustained while cooking, but they can also happen at work sites and in other industries. After burn injury, recovery is slow and often burn patients have prolong hospital stay. Public awareness, preventive knowledge and proper burn care helps to decrease the burden of burn injury in the society.

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Published

2023-04-04

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Section

Orginal Articles