War-related Burns in Syria in the Years 2013-2017 A Cross Sectional Study in Damascus Hospital

Abstract

Intorduction:Thermal injuries have always been a source of morbidity and mortality in times of war. Historically, they constitute 5% to 20% of all injuries and approximately 4% mortality.This study will review the information acquired from patient’s files on war-related thermal injuries in Damascus Hospital from 2013 to 2017. We will describe the epidemiology of burn injuries, and the assessment, and final treatment of burn patients.Methods:A cross sectional study of war-related burn injuries was conducted during the years 2013-2017 in Damascus Hospital. Chi-squre analysis was used to compare gender and mortality with sociodemographic factors and burn outcome variables. One-way analysis of variance (anova) and t-test were used to compare means of continuous variables (Age, TBSA,ABSI).Results:450 patients were included in this study. 289 (64.2%) were males and 207 (46%) were from the eastern region of Syria. Most injuries were flame injuries 197 patients (43.8%) and petroleum substance burns 93 (20.7%). Most common injury place was the four limbs 288 (28.4%), and head and neck 282 (27.8%). Mortality rates were 163 (36.2%) and the most common cause of death was respiratory failure 80 (49.1%). Gender and mortality were significantly associated with sociodemographic factors and burn outcomes (P-value<0.05).Conclusion:More details have been identified regarding war related burn injuries in Syria. This leads to conduct better health care programs and stress the importance of better triage with war circumstances. Additional studies are required to determine management and to get better insight on the treatment.