Scald Burns, Children a Vulnerable Vicitm

Abstract

This retrospective study spans over a period of two years and included 18 scald cases all of them were accidental in nature. Majority of the reported cases were children who sustained scalds of more than 50% of the area of the body. Analysis of the data was done on the bases of age, gender, site where incidence took place, nature of injury, causative agent, duration patient survived and manner of death. There were 18 male cases and 6 female cases, all died due to incidence of scald. All reported cases were domestic in nature. Upper part of the body was affected in majority of the cases and boiling water was the main source of scalds. The surface area affected in all cases was more than 50% which was calculated with the help of rule of nine. The cause of death in majority of the cases was septicemia. Aim: The aim of the study is to explore of causative factors of wet burns in young age group. Methodology: This study is based on retrospective data which was conducted between the years January 2000 to December 2002. During this time period total of 16 cases of death due to hot liquid i.e. scalds were reported for autopsy nearly all of them belonged to young age group. Results: The reported cases in our study were males (67.8%) and females (32.2%), the ratio of male to female was 2:1. The common age group effected was children ranging from 1-12 years (59.01%), followed by adults in the age group of 35 -45 (17.12%) years. Majority of the incidences were domestic in nature72.2%. more than 70% of the incidences took place at home and more than 85% of the body area affected was thorax. Hot boiling water was the main cause of scalds. Conclusion: Scalds appear to be one of the most common type of burns encountered in children, the major contributing factor is the ignorance on the part of the mother. All studies have proven one common thing that onus of responsibility rest on the shoulders of the parents, who should take the responsibility and be more vigilant so that such incidences should be avoided. Key Words: Scalds, wet burns, adolescents.