Naila Kanwal, Amjad Chaudhry, Zaheer Abbasi.
Burns in pediatric population admitted in two tertiary care hospitals.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;53(1):17-9.

Background: Burns in Pediatric population accounts for almost 77% of total burn cases in developing countries including Pakistan. Objectives: To calculate the frequency and causes of burns in pediatric population. Study type, settings and duration: Prospective cross sectional survey done in the emergency departments of pediatric units of Mayo Hospital Lahore and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad over 6 months from July to December 2012. Subjects and Methods: All new cases of burns presenting to the emergency departments of these hospital were included in the study while those who were previously admitted with burns and were undergoing some reconstructive surgery or treated for complications were excluded. A questionnaire was completed by the duty doctor while interviewing the parents or care givers. The frequency of all variables was measured in percentage. Results: A total of 600 children were enrolled in the study. Their ages ranged from 0-12 years with 270(45%) constituting toddlers between the ages of 1-2 years. Gender showed female predominance in 372(62%) cases. Place of injury was home in 80% cases (480). Mothers were illiterate in 60% cases (370). Commonest causes of burns were scalds (43.6%), followed by flame burns (20.6%), electrical burns (15.3%), chemical burns (10.2%) and other causes (10.3%). Single multipurpose room of poor socioeconomic homes and maternal ignorance about burn prevention were common contributing factors. Conclusion: Burns were more in toddlers and in female gender. Creating awareness in mothers can reduce the injury manifold.

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