Epidemiology of Burn Types in Children Referred to the Emergency Department of Amir-Al-Momenin Hospital, Zabol (2018–2020)

Introduction: Burn injuries are associated with complications, immune and inflammatory responses, metabolic changes, shock, and significant mortality, which can be challenging to manage. The most common etiology of burns in children is related to hot liquids, and the most common etiology of burns in adults is associated with flame burns, with flame burns accounting for the majority of injuries in the United States, followed by hot liquid burns. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and causes of burns in children referred to the emergency department of Amir-Al-Momenin hospital, Zabol. Methods: The present study was conducted on 205 burn patients under 20 years admitted to the burn center of Amir-Al-Moment hospital between 2018 and 2020. The required data, including demographic and anthropometric information of patients, type of burn, caustic substance, percentage of burn, need for skin grafting, and the results of patients, were recorded from patients’ medical records. Results: In general, in the time frame of this study, burns with gases were the most common causes of burns (75 out of 205 burns), followed by burns with hot liquids, oil and gasoline, electricity, firecrackers, chemicals, and hot surfaces. The findings revealed that although the mortality rate of patients with gas and hot liquid burns was higher than that of patients suffering from the other types of burns, they had a better healing process. Conclusion: However, in recent years, burning with gas has grown significantly, and burning with kerosene and gasoline has taken a downward trend, which can be due to the increasing trend of using city gas while reducing the use of petroleum compounds and replacing them with gas. In addition, the age group of 10–20 years had the highest frequency of burn patients, highlighting the importance of creating preventive strategies.