The evaluation of the patients admitted to a burn center in Turkey

Burns constitute an important part of the accident-related deaths due to high morbidity and mortality.

The medical records of 778 (279 female) patients who were treated during last three years period were retrospectively analyzed concerning age, gender, the cause of the burn, the month when the burn occurred, admission date, duration of the hospital stay, area of the burn. The relationship between these parameters and the mortality was analyzed.

The average age of the patients was 20 years. The burns were related to accidents in 87% patients, abuse in 8%, co-morbid diseases in 3% and suicidal attempts in 2%. In 48% of the cases there were hot fluid burns and in 37% (284) fire-flames. The burns were due to electrical burns in 13% patients and to other reasons in the remaining 2%. One hundred and seventy - two patients had fatal courses. The mortality rate was 75% in 12 patients who were above 60 years. Average burn area was 24% (10-100) and average hospital stay was 13 days.

As most of the burns were due to accidents, the number of burns might be reduced by prioritizing preventive measures and better results could be obtained when the quality and the number of the burn centers is increased.