[Epidemiologic study of 1768 burned patients]

A retrospective epidemiological study was made based on 1,768 burn patients admitted either to the Burns Unit or the general wards of the Plastic Surgery Department of Prelada Hospital in Oporto, from October 1988 until November 1997, corresponding to almost 8.5% of the overall patients admitted. The average age of the patients was 31.7 years and nearly 42% were children under 15 years old. The majority were male (60.8%), both in adults and children. The most frequent etiological agent was caused by fire (44.2%) and scalds (39%). About 74% of the patients required surgical treatment, with an average of nearly 2.3 operations per patient, of which 41.6% were surgical debridement or escarectomies and 40.8% skin grafting. The average hospital stay was 27.2 days and the overall mortality rate was nearly 6.8%, being much higher in adults (10.8%).