A 3-Year Review of an Outpatient Burn Sedation Program in a Tertiary Burn Care Centre: Is It Safe and Does It Work?

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Burn Care
• Sedation Management
• Outpatient Procedures

Background:

• Tertiary-care centers utilize multidisciplinary teams for burn patient management.
• Moderate to deep sedation is often required for dressing changes in a monitored setting outside the operating room.
• Limited literature exists on the safety and efficacy of treating outpatient pediatric burn patients with deep sedation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the safety of deep sedation in a burn treatment room setting for pediatric patients.
• To evaluate the efficacy and logistics of outpatient burn care requiring sedation.
• To determine if the burn treatment room can effectively manage cases historically requiring inpatient operating suite intervention.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of pediatric burn patients treated between 2013 and 2015.
• Data collection included patient demographics, burn diagnosis, procedure details, sedation methods, and adverse events.
• Descriptive statistical analysis was performed on the collected data.

Main Results:

• A total of 74 patients with 308 visits for burn care and dressing changes were analyzed.
• Scald burns were the most common injury (n=56), with most burns being superficial to mid-dermal (54%).
• Of 304 sedated procedures, only 3.6% (11 events) had adverse events, none of which were critical.

Conclusions:

• The burn treatment room provides a safe and effective environment for managing pediatric burn patients.
• Deep sedation in this setting can successfully bypass the need for operating suite management.
• This approach enhances the efficiency and safety of outpatient pediatric burn care.