Management and outcomes of children with severe burns in New South Wales: 1995–2013

Abstract

Severe burn injuries in children have significant morbidity and mortality. They would appear expensive to manage and impact substantially on health care resources.

Variation in burn wound management approaches for paediatric burn patients in Australia and New Zealand

“…However, for children with severe burn injury, multiple burn wound management procedures, blood transfusions, and multidisciplinary teams are necessary to support recovery. 1 Currently, there is an absence of research exploring both the profile of paediatric burn patients who require burn wound management within the operating theatre environment as part of their acute burn care, as well as variation in the nature and application of such operative interventions between burn services in Australia and New Zealand. Acute adult burn wound management practice has been shown to vary significantly between services, 1,3 but we lack a body of evidence to know whether the same can be said of paediatric burn care practice, or not.…”

“…Burn injuries in paediatric populations are associated with significant morbidity, are expensive to manage, and demand substantial health care resources 1,2 . In adult populations flame related burns are most common; in paediatric patients scalds dominate, followed by contact and then flame burns 3 .…”

“…1 Currently, there is an absence of research exploring both the profile of paediatric burn patients who require burn wound management within the operating theatre environment as part of their acute burn care, as well as variation in the nature and application of such operative interventions between burn services in Australia and New Zealand. Acute adult burn wound management practice has been shown to vary significantly between services, 1,3 but we lack a body of evidence to know whether the same can be said of paediatric burn care practice, or not. 3 Through increased high-quality evidence comes the potential for increased quality and safety in care, leading to more appropriate treatment and improved outcomes.…”

“…Paediatric burn injuries are less severe than adult populations, with less than 3 % of the population sustaining burns covering 20% or more of their total body surface area (TBSA), compared to almost 9 % of the adult population. However, for children with severe burn injury, multiple burn wound management procedures, blood transfusions, and multidisciplinary teams are necessary to support recovery 1 …”

“…Burn injuries in paediatric populations are associated with significant morbidity, are expensive to manage, and demand substantial health care resources. 1,2 In adult populations flame related burns are most common; in paediatric patients scalds dominate, followed by contact and then flame burns. 3 Paediatric burn injuries are less severe than adult populations, with less than 3 % of the population sustaining burns covering 20% or more of their total body surface area (TBSA), compared to almost 9 % of the adult population.…”