Gabriel De Jesus-Astacio, MS
Medical Student
University Pediatric Hospital UPR-SOM
San Juan, PR
Disclosure information not submitted.
Anabel Puig, PhD, FCCP
Ph.D, FCCP
University Pediatric Hospital-Grupo Intensivo Pediatrico
Carolina, Puerto Rico, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Ingrid Mercedes, MD
Physician
Pediatric University Hospital, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Title: Clinical Outcomes of Hospitalized Burn Pediatric Hispanic Patients
Introduction: Unintentional burn injuries affect annually more than 500,000 children in the United States making it the fourth leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and fourteen, reported the American Burn Association. There is no scientific data about the profile of pediatric burn patients admitted to hospitals in Puerto Rico. This study evaluated the profile of burn patients admitted to only tertiary teaching hospital in Puerto Rico with a ward burn unit which is also the principal treatment center in the Caribbean.
METHODS, In this retrospective cross-sectional study, all patients from 1m to 21-year-old admitted to Ward Pediatric Burn Unit and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) from June 2010 to December 2017. Data was expressed as median ± SD and percentages. Logistic regression model was used to assess the comparison between prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS) versus age, burn degree and TBSA%.
RESULTS, A total of 960 admissions were evaluated, 10.1% (97) of them admitted to PICU. Of patients admitted to ward burn unit, 60.2% were males with 50% of them younger than 3 years old. 72% of PICU patients were males with a median age of 7.75. Based on the total population, 83% of injured children suffered second-degree burns; being scald burn the principal cause, 61% on Ward and 56% on PICU patients. We found that patients younger than 5 years were 2.4 times at greater risk of suffering from burn lesions. Ward patients reported higher values of TBSA% as well as higher LOS, being 1-10% and 62.29days respectively. By comparing the hospital LOS vs TBSA% and burn degree, a positive relationship (p< 0.05) was produced by a prolonged hospital LOS. However, there was no association between age range nor age + TBSA% or age + burn degree and prolonged hospital LOS.
CONCLUSIONS, Prolonged hospital LOS was associated with burn degree and %TBSA rather than patient's age range. Contrary to the mortality rate reported in literature, there have been no mortality at the hospital due to burn injuries. This may response to the techniques used such as early airway management, aggressive use of antibiotics and constant sterilization of the burn areas. This patient management has greatly contributed to the reduction of the unit LOS as well decreasing the clinical complications.