Emergency department management of minor burn injuries in Ontario, Canada

Many thermal injuries are minor and can be effectively treated in a primary care setting. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to examine how emergency department physicians care for minor burns in the Canadian province of Ontario. Respondents were provided with a colour photograph of a patient with a minor burn and asked to comment about history, physical examination, investigations, treatment plan and follow-up care. A 37% response rate was attained (141/380). Of all respondents, 70% failed to record the burn extent, and 45% failed to discuss analgesia. No significant differences existed between emergency physicians in teaching and non-teaching hospitals (P > 0.05), with the exception that teaching hospital physicians referred significantly more to burn centres (P = 0.013). This suggests that educational interventions focussing on burn extent, pain control and referral criteria may be beneficial to emergency physicians.