Home remedy or hazard? management and costs of paediatric steam inhalation therapy burn injuries

Steam inhalation: More harm than good? Perspective from a UK burns centre

“…In the aforementioned paper by Al Himdani et al [11] most scalds were sustained by tipping hot water from bowls, a mechanism also backed up by other papers [4] , [10] . It is obvious most GPs would not recommend steam inhalation by placing vessels of boiling water directly on laps or on unstable surfaces.…”

“…It also advised “sitting in the bathroom with a running hot shower is a safe option.” However, the worry is whether the government's advice is being passed on to patients. A previous study [11] in 2016 looked at steam inhalation scalds in the paediatric population. In it's survey of GPs in Wales, it found that 81% ( n = 17) had advised patients to use steam inhalation in their career.…”

“…More worryingly, only a small proportion of GPs were aware of evidence pertaining to the use of steam inhalation, and none were aware of the results of the 2013 Cochrane review [1] . Less than a quarter of GPs reported the potential risk of scalds using steam inhalation [11] .…”

“…We found limited literature assessing scalds as a result of steam inhalation therapy. Previous papers have looked at cases in adults and children in the Netherlands [10] or in paediatric populations in Australia [4] and Wales [11] , but no previous paper has assessed steam inhalation related scalds in adult and paediatric populations in the UK.…”

Closing evidence to practice gaps: an end to an attack of the vapours?

“…9 The study also includes a small pragmatic survey suggesting that over 80% of the UK GP respondents surveyed recommend steam inhalation therapy. This raises important questions about why therapies with no evidence of effectiveness, but evidence of harm, continue to be accepted and even endorsed as part of GP advice.…”