Burn care in Los Angeles, California: LAC+USC experience 1994-2004

The LAC+USC Burn Center has admitted 3118 patients for treatment in the last 10 years. A majority of patients were young adults (1868), with the second largest group being small children (543). The ethnicity of the patients reflects the diverse nature of the population of Los Angeles County. Forty-eight percent of injuries were less than 5% TBSA and approximately 2% were greater than 60% TBSA. Eighty-two percent were accidental injuries. Sixty percent of admitted patients underwent skin grafting. Mortality was negligible in the group with burns over less than 10% of their body and very high (15/19), 79% in the most severely burned group. Further, there was a high correlation between age and mortality. Complications during treatment included: deep venous thrombosis 1% per year; pulmonary emboli in 5 patients; endotracheal tube dislodgment early or self-extubation about 1 month (11.3 per year); 4.5 patients per year who developed acute renal failure; abdominal compartment syndrome developed in 4.7 patients each year; heterotopic ossification was seen in 4 patients (0.4%); 4 patients (0.4%) developed stage II-IV pressure sores; hypothermia was present in 0.8% of patients.