Intensive care treatment of children with severe burns – our experience

INTENSIVE CARE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN WITH SEVERE BURNS – OUR EXPERIENCE Izabella Fabri Galambos1,2, Anna Uram-Benka1,2, Marina Pandurov1,2, Goran Rakić2,3, Nikola Bošković1,2 1 University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative medicine, Hajduk Veljkova 3., 21000 Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia 2 Institute for the healthcare of children and youth of Vojvodina, Clinic of Pediatric surgery, Department for pediatric anesthesia, Intensive care and pain therapy, Hajduk Veljkova 10., 21000 Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia 3 University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Emergency medicine, Hajduk Veljkova 3., 21000 Novi Sad, Republic of Serbia Author e-mail address: [email protected] Background: The treatment of children with severe burns is performed in pediatric surgical intensive care unit (PSICU) by a highly specialized multidisciplinary team in our institution. Objective: Determine which is the most commonly performed initial treatment measure in children with severe burns. To estimate the influence of severity and type of burns on length of stay in PSICU. The aim was also to detect the frequency of major complications and frequency of mortality. Material and methods: A unicentric retrospective study was conducted, and data were taken from case records of 34 children with burns hospitalized at PSICU from 2017 to 2021. Results: The average age of the children was 4,63 years. The percentage of male children was significantly higher. There was a statistically significant difference in the age of male children compared to female. A statistically significant difference was also found relative to patient age, when observed the type of burn. The average burn area of the respondents was 20,81%. Recommended initial treatment measures were performed in all patients in a high percentage upon hospitalization. A statistically significant difference in the length of stay of patients in the PSICU was found in relation to the burn area expressed in percentage. Only patients with >20% burn area have died, and they were also the only ones to have severe complications. Conclusion: Male children more often get severe burns. Children with a higher percentage burn area stay longer in PSICU, and they have more frequent complications which can result in death. Keywords: burns; burns in children; initial burn treatment. References: 1. Sheridan R L. Burn Care for Children. Pediatr Rev June 2018; 39 (6): 273–286. https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.20160179 2. Greenhalgh DG et al.. Management of Burns. N Engl J Med 2019; 380:2349-2359. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra1807442 3. Strauss S, Gillespie GL. Initial Assessment and Management of Burn Patients: Your Quick Action Can Help Decrease Morbidity and Mortality, Shorten Hospital Stays, and Reduce Costs. American Nurse Today. 2018; 13(6):15.