Hot milk burns in children: a crucial issue among 764 scaldings

Abstract

Burns are among the preventable traumas encountered during childhood. Burn injuries are mostly classified as scalds, flame, electric, and chemical burns. However, each subject has some difference in the course of treatment related to the sub-etiologies. To reveal the importance of milk burns, scald burn patients were studied retrospectively. Demographics of the patients, burn etiologies, clinical presentations, and clinical courses were analyzed. There were 461 (60.4%) male and 303 (39.6%) female patients, with a 1.52 male to female ratio. The mean age of the group was 3.36±2.86 years. There were no difference in burn causes between males and females. The mean burned total body surface area of patients was 16.91±12.63%. Hot milk caused larger, deeper burns than the other scalds and caused more third-degree burns (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.05, respectively). Milk burns also resulted in longer hospital stay (days) (p<0.001). The mortality rate was also higher in milk burns than other scalds (p<0.001). Due to the more detrimental clinical course, milk burns necessitate special consideration in clinical settings. The most important factor is to be aware that burns are deeper than they appear.