Pattern of presentation, management and early outcome of burns as seen at Kenyatta national hospital

Abstract

This was a prospective observational study of patients admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital with bums during the study period of December 2006 to March 2007. Two hundred patients (200)were recruited, their age, sex and occupation were recorded. The cause of bum pre-hospital care and times taken to hospital and to the ward were noted. The treated at casualty ward, (dressings, antibiotics, and physiotherapy were recorded). The surgical treatment given, complication and early outcome were recorded for each patient for up to a period of 4 weeks. Data was entered into a data collection form and analyzed used an SPSS version 11. From this study bums were commonest in children less than 5 years constituting 57.5% males were more commonly affected with a male to female ratio of 1.2: 1. Majority of bum patients were from Nairobi area 82% followed by central province with 13%. Scalds accounted for 58.5% of bums while open flame bums accounted for 31.5%. The upper limbs were the most commonly affected body parts 121(60.5%) closely followed by trunk115(57.5%) of patients. The range of TBSA was 1-110%. Majority of patients (67%) were admitted within 12 hours of bum and most of patients (98.5%) received analgesics. Seventeen of the patients died translating into a mortality of 8.5%. In conclusion, bums are a common injury in our setup and are generally well managed. However there is need to improve our bum patient management in regard to investigations, timing of grafting and counseling. The Lund Browder chart need to be filled consistently for every bum patient admitted.