Burns in the emergency department: a national perspective

Burns are a common cause of injury presenting to the Emergency Department (ED). Several reports state that admission for and mortality from burn injury are declining. Total visits to the ED, however, have increased.

The objective of this study was to determine the number and trends over time of patients presenting to the ED for burn injury.

The study was a retrospective analysis of National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey databases for 1996-2005 available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Subjects were patients with a first diagnosis of a burn. Patient weights in the database were used to obtain estimated national values. Measures used were estimated total numbers and percentages of patients by year. Trends from 1996 through 2005 were examined overall and by demographic factors and injury characteristics. Linear regression was used to evaluate trends.

There was a significantly decreasing trend in ED burn visits from 1996 to 2000 (614,745 to 433,681 visits), but no apparent trend for the years 2000 to 2005. Annually, about 60% of ED burn patients were male, and about half were between the ages of 19 and 44 years. Less than 5% of burns were third degree or full thickness injuries. Admissions per year were stable at 5%. The most common causes of burn injury were contact with a hot liquid and contact with a hot object, and the most common body region affected was the upper extremities (40% each year), followed by burns to the head/face/neck. Use of medications showed no trends over time.

ED visits for burn injuries have been decreasing; however, patterns of cause, admission, and treatment show no consistent temporal change.