Characteristics of burn injury during COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo: A descriptive study

Abstract

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has drastically changed everyday life worldwide. This study aimed to determine how COVID-19 affected the characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe burn injury by examining a city-wide burn database in Tokyo. Patients and Methods A descriptive study was conducted in 14 burn centers using the Tokyo Burn Unit Association registry from 1999–2020. The pandemic started in 2020, while the stay-at-home order lasted from April to May. The demographics, mechanisms, severity, and clinical outcomes were assessed before and during these two time periods. Results In total, 7061 patients with burn injury were enrolled. During the pandemic, there were less patients during the pandemic than previous years, except for April–May; this decreased toward the end of 2020. There were also more scald/contact burns in the upper extremity, less intended and assault injuries, shorter length of hospital stay, and lower in-hospital mortality. During the stay-at-home order, there was increased incidence of flame burns, inhalation injuries, and in-hospital mortality, as well as higher total body surface area of full-thickness burns. Conclusions This study described the characteristics of burns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The association between the stay-at-home order and severity of burns should be further examined.

Sustained high demand for intensive care unit resources for the treatment of burn patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Germany: A single-centre cross-sectional study

“…Similar studies were published by other burn centres from economically developed countries, such as the UK, the US, Canada, and Japan [ 5 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. D'Asta et al reported a decrease in adult burn patients by 60% during the lockdown, although the number of paediatric burn cases increased by 8% at the same time [11] .…”

“…This might be explained by the fact that the lockdown policies mainly affected the retail, culture, and gastronomy sectors and spared the heavy industry where hygiene concepts or short-time working was introduced early in Germany. No relationship could be identified in previously published studies, which may be explained by the generally lower incidence of work-related burn injuries [ 5 , 18 ]. Further, we expected a rise in burn patients with concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection.…”

“…The cause, characteristics, and clinical outcome of burn injuries depend on the socioeconomic status of the region, the health care system, and the patient's lifestyle [4] . The COVID-19 pandemic showed various impacts depending on the geographic location [5] . The German health care system has the highest number of intensive care unit beds per citizen, even though a decline is evident.…”

Challenges in Burn Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Scoping Review

“…Although some burn units have reported their measures [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], there are no data on the impact of these with regard to treatment outcomes. Most of the data published in the literature thus far refer to epidemiological and demographic data in addition to injury and treatment characteristics of burn patients [ 8 , 15 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Threshold of increase in oxygen demand to predict mechanical ventilation use in novel coronavirus disease 2019: A retrospective cohort study incorporating restricted cubic spline regression

“…Sporadic COVID-19 cases were noted in Japan in January 2020. The governor of Tokyo Metropolis announced the first stay-at-home order in April 2020, which lasted one month, then the second in January 2021 [ 14 ]. There were three surges of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases during the study period.…”