Analysis of reasons and locations of burns on hands

During the period 1971-76, 1055 patients with fresh burns were treated at our hospital. Of these, 461 (88 females, 373 males) had sustained burns on altogether 783 hands. This amounts to 45% of the total number of fresh burns. In 322 cases both hands were involved, amounting to 31% of all cases of fresh burns, or 70% of all patients with burned hands. Whereas 82% of patients with hand burns had injuries to both hands, only 10% had sustained an injury to the right hand alone and 8% to the left hand alone. Cases of burns limited to the hands alone accounted for only 4.7% of all burn injuries. The main cause of burn injuries was thermal accident--most often steam explosions and the spraying of scalding liquids. The total number of hands injured by thermal agents totalled 707, i.e. 90% of all burned hands. Most of these were deep skin burns. Chemical agents were mainly responsible for this type of burn, whereas electrical burns were chiefly full thickness skin injuries. Analysis of the location of burns showed that 643 (82%) hands of the altogether 783 injuries sustained involved the wrist, 620 (79%) the metacarpus, 684 (87%) of the fingers. Some 321 hand burns (41%) were of a circumferential nature. A majority of burned hands were injured on the dorsal surface. The burn injuries of hands in 246 (53%) persons were connected with their professional work.