Abstract
Background: Scald burns result from exposure to high-temperature fluids and are more common in the pediatric age group. They occur mainly by two mechanisms: (i) spill and (ii) immersion (hot cauldron) burns. These two patterns differ in clinical characteristics and outcomes. Scalds cause significant morbidity and mortality in children. The objective of this study was to compare accidental spill burns and hot cauldron burns in a hospital setting. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing the secondary data of scald cases admitted during the years 2019 and 2020 in a burn-dedicated tertiary care center. Total population sampling was adopted. Data analysis was done partly using SPSS, version-23, and Stata-15. Mann Whitney U-test and Chi-square/Fisher's exact test were done appropriately to find associations between different variables. Regression analysis was performed taking mortality events as the outcome of interest. Results: Out of 108 scald cases, 43 (39.8%) had hot cauldron burns and 65 (60.2%) had accidental spill burns. Overall mortality was 16 (14.8%), out of which hot cauldron burns and accidental spill burns comprised 12 (75.0%) and 4 (25.0%), respectively. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed the type of scald, age, and Baux score found to be associated with mortality. Every one-year increment in age had a 29% lower odds of occurrence of mortality event (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50-0.99, p=0.042). Likewise, every one-point increment in Baux score was associated with 19% higher odds of mortality (adjusted OR, 1.190; 95% CI, 1.08-1.32; p<0.001). Conclusions: Accidental spill burns were more common but mortality was significantly higher for hot cauldron burns. The majority of burn injuries occurred inside the kitchen emphasizing appropriate parental precautions. The risk of mortality was significantly higher in burn events occurring outside the house, and burns involving back, buttocks, perineum, and lower extremities.
Highlights
Scald burns are the most common types of burn injuries in children throughout the world.[1,2] These injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population.[3,4] They have long-term physical, psychological and economic impacts on the patients and their families
Accidental spill burns were more common but mortality was significantly higher for hot cauldron burns
The majority of burn injuries occurred inside the kitchen emphasizing appropriate parental precautions
Summary
Scald burns are the most common types of burn injuries in children throughout the world.[1,2] These injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population.[3,4] They have long-term physical, psychological and economic impacts on the patients and their families. Scalds result from exposure to hot liquids or steam They occur mainly by two mechanisms: (i) spill and (ii) immersion burns.[8,9,10] Accidental spill burns are due to spillage of hot liquid such as boiling water, tea, milk, oil, soup, etc. Scald burns result from exposure to high-temperature fluids and are more common in the pediatric age group. They occur mainly by two mechanisms: (i) spill and (ii) immersion (hot cauldron) burns. These two patterns differ in clinical characteristics and outcomes. Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed the type of scald, age, and Baux score found to be associated with mortality. Every one-point increment in Baux score was associated with 19% higher odds of mortality (adjusted OR, 1.190; 95% CI, 1.08-1.32; p
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