A Regional Analysis of Potentially Preventable Injuries Sustained From Burning Garbage and Yard Waste

Abstract

Due to high prevalence in the south, understanding the injury pattern, healthcare burden, and cost of burn injuries associated with burning yard and trash debris are important for effective prevention. This five-year retrospective, single-center study included patients sustaining an open flame burn injury due to burning brush or trash. Based on primary residence of the 136-patients, 56% had access to free municipal waste disposal, 25% could have had access with additional payment, and 18% did not have access. The median (Q1, Q3) age and total body surface area (TBSA) burned was 50 (32, 66.5) years and 5% (2.5, 12), respectively, with 36% having some portion of full-thickness injury. One-third had some form of substance use. There were 151 total operations with a median of 1 (0, 1.5) per patient. There were 1,620 hospital days utilized (~6.6% of available bed-days per study period). Twenty-five percent were discharged with a paired functional status worse than pre-injury. Patients with some degree of pre-injury function limitations had a three-fold higher length of stay (10 vs 3 days; p = 0.023). Patients with lower pre-injury functionality had almost 4 times higher mortality (23.7% vs 6.3%; p = 0.085). There were 9 (6.7%) deaths with an average (± SD) 74.3 ± 13.1 years of age, median 33% (31, 43) TBSA, and median full-thickness TBSA of 32% (21, 44). Total hospital charges exceeded $32.6 million with a median $32,952.26 ($8,790.48, $103,113.95) per patient. Focusing future outreach efforts on education and resource availability may prevent future waste burning injuries.