Paediatric burn and scald management in a low resource setting: A reference guide and review

The mortality rates and Disability Adjusted Life Years lost of burn injuries (including scalds) among children below 15 years of age in Africa are more than ten and 20 times higher, respectively, than in high-income countries. Prevention of injuries and timely optimal management will help to reduce these figures. Management guidelines that are locally relevant to low income settings, incorporating universal principles, are required. We aim to provide a reference guide for the management of paediatric burn injuries in settings with limited resources using a resource-tiered approach. Additionally, we would like to add our voice to the advocacy for improvements in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.

A literature review was carried out using Ovid Medline (1946 to present), Embase (1974 to November 2016) and Google Scholar (2012 to present) using the key words and Boolean terms Burn OR Scald, AND Paediatric, AND Management OR Treatment, AND Africa, AND Sub-Saharan Africa. Further references were found from citations.

In total, 78 papers were included in this review, along with the WHO injury book and the Burns Manual. Comprehensive primary prevention programmes should be set up and adequately funded. Assessment and immediate management of a burn patient should follow the ABCDE approach. Appropriate patients such as those with inhalational injury should be referred early. An escharotomy should be performed without delay at the facility where the patient has presented. Intravenous fluid management must be guideline-based, goal-directed and titrated to effect. Pain management should use multiple modalities including adequate and pre-emptive analgesia. Supplemental nutrition is required in patients with baseline malnutrition and/or burns greater than 10% Total Body Surface Area. Infections such as toxic shock syndrome and tetanus must be managed aggressively.