The outcomes of becoming a pediatric burn center in Turkey

Burns are one of the most important causes of traumatic death in children worldwide. A pediatric burn center was established in our hospital in August 2009. The aim of this study was to compare patient profiles and data before and after the burn treatment center was established.

Burn patients were admitted to the pediatric surgery department between January 2005 and August 2009, and there was no intensive care service in this department. Intensive care service has been provided since August 2009 with the burn center established at our hospital. The 316 cases that were followed-up at the pediatric surgery department in the first period were identified as Group I and the 442 cases that were admitted to the burn center in the second period were identified as Group II. The data of the groups were then compared.

Mean age of the cases was 5.1 years in Group I and 7.7 years in Group II. The total mean body burn percentage was 16.12% in Group I and 17.54% in Group II. Although scalding burns were the most subtype in both groups, flame burns were 2.13 times, electrical burns 3.44 times, flame+inhalation burns 8.33 times, and burns with an over 40% total burn surface area were 2.41 times more common in Group II than in Group I. The mortality rates were 0% in Group I and 2.26% in Group II.

Converting to a normal department admitting burn patients in a burn unit format to an actual burn center means more severe cases will be admitted. This requires a patient and attentive process while the burn team struggles with the new patient profile on one hand and has to learn how to overcome with less personal trauma the loss of patients, a feeling it is unfamiliar with, on the other, which is also an actual training process for the entire burn team.