Mortality and treatment cost estimates for 1075 consecutive patients treated by a regional adult burn service over a five year period: The Liverpool experience

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical outcomes and treatment costs of a regional adult burn service in northwest England. MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed data on a five year cohort of 1075 patients treated by the Mersey Regional Burn Service between 2006 and 2010 to obtain age-stratified mortality estimates based on the lethal area 50 (LA50) measure. Treatment cost estimates were made for a one year cohort of 262 patients treated between April 2011 and April 2012. Results44 (4.1%) of the five year cohort died; 36 had suffered flame burns. Our LA50 was 71.08 for the 15–44 age group, 56.64 for the 45–64 age group, and 28.82 for the 65 and over age group. Mean treatment costs associated with patients allocated to different burn-specific healthcare resource groups ranged from £2527.77 to £31,870.95. Detailed cost estimates for three patients ranged from £12,553.23 to £66,029.33. ConclusionThe LA50 estimates for the Mersey Regional Burn Service compare favourably with previous reports in the literature. Our treatment costs were substantially lower compared to those reported previously in the United Kingdom. This study demonstrates that high quality and cost effective care can be delivered by a service that treats relatively few major burns (>70% TBSA).