Abstract:
Background:
“A burn is an injury caused by heat, chemicals, electricity or radiation” [1]. “Burns are the fourth
common type of injury presenting to the emergency department (ED) in Rwanda” [2]. However,
there is little research on the epidemiology of burn patients, which could inform public health
measures for burn prevention and acute management. The purpose of this study was to describe
the characteristics and outcomes of burn patients presenting to the ED of the University Teaching
Hospital – Kigali (CHUK).
Methods:
This single-center, prospective study evaluated patients with burn injuries presenting at the
CHUK ED between 1 June and 31 December 2019. Data on demographics, burn characteristics,
burn management, disposition, length of stay in the ED and patient outcomes was gathered. Data
was stored in Excel and analyzed descriptively using SPSS24.
Results:
The study enrolled 96 patients, most of whom were male (58.30%). The mean age was 10.31
years, with a range of 0 to 68 years. Most patients were pediatric (70.9%), and 1- to 5-years old
was the most affected age group. Scalding was the most common burn etiology overall (71.9%)
and for pediatric patients (63.5%). For adults, the most common burn etiology was explosion. Most burns were accidental (95.8%) and superficial dermal burns (72.9%). The mean time
between injury and presentation was 18.1 hours. All patients were debrided and dressed before
discharge or admission to the hospital, and only 6 patients (6.3%) underwent advanced airway
management by intubation. There were 12 mortalities (12.5%) in the 30 days post-injury, with
scald injuries as the most frequent cause of mortality. Higher mortality was significantly
associated with increased body surface area affected (p = 0.001) and full thickness burns
(p=0.01).
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Conclusion:
In Rwanda, children between the ages of 1 and 5 years are the most affected by burns and
scalding is the most common burn etiology. Public health measures should especially aim to
prevent burn injuries in the pediatric population. Community education on household safety and
promotion of early consultation could reduce burn prevalence and improve outcomes of pediatric
burn injuries.
