The ten-year experience of firework injuries treated at a uk regional burns & plastic surgery unit

Fireworks are used worldwide to celebrate national, religious, cultural festivals and holidays. However the use of fireworks is associated with preventable injuries. We aim to review cases of burns and trauma caused by fireworks presenting to a regional burns and plastic surgery unit in the United Kingdom. We hope our findings will help to guide future firework-related safety practices in the UK. A retrospective review was performed of all patients presenting to our tertiary burns and plastic surgery unit with burns and/or trauma sustained from fireworks over a ten-year period from October 2004 to October 2014. A total of 93 patients were identified. Medical case notes were reviewed, patient demographics, aetiology of injury, management and patient outcomes were recorded. A cohort of 93 patients with burn injuries caused by fireworks were identified from our database. A total of 74% injuries occurred in October and November. Mechanism of injury included contact, flash, flame burns and injury secondary to blast force. Most injuries sustained were to the hands, followed by head and neck, torso, limbs and perineum in descending order of frequency. A total of 38.7% of patients required surgery for their wounds. Fireworks not only result in significant burn injuries, but also eye injuries, soft tissue defects and fractures requiring a spectrum of plastic surgical interventions. The number and severity of accidents can be minimised by raising awareness regarding safety precautions.