Abstract

RAMIREZ-BLANCO, Carlos E.; RAMIREZ-RIVERO, Carlos E.  and  DIAZ-MARTINEZ, Luis A.. Agent and survival in burn patients on the referral center of northeastern Colombia. Cir. plást. iberolatinoam. [online]. 2017, vol.43, n.1, pp.59-67. ISSN 1989-2055.

Background and Objective: Burns are an important cause of morbidity and responsible for more than 300.000 deaths per year worldwide. Over 90% of these deaths occur in countries with low or medium income. The aim of this study is to characterize burned patients admitted to the referral center for northeastern Colombia, at the University Hospital of Santander, Bucaramanga. Methods. This was an observational, descriptive and longitudinal study, in a 12 month period. Sociodemographic and medical data was collected from the medical records of burn patients hospitalized at the referred hospital. Statistical analysis was performed with measures of central tendency, proportions, overall incidence and specific density in addition to overall and specific incidence density. Results. During 2014, 402 burn patients were hospitalized proceeding from 12 states, 234 (58.2%) men and 168 (41.8%) women, ages between 6 days and 83 years. Burns affected 1-80% of body surface; 95.5% of patients had some sort of insurance. Causative agents include hot liquids (52.5%), fire (10.0%), fuel (9.2%), electricity (7.5%) and chemical substances (3.7%) among others; these agents produce second and / or third grade burns, 14 days median hospital stay and cumulative mortality of 1.5% which is related to the depth and extent of the burn. We considerer that agents are related to certain age group because of the activities of the corresponding age; the depth may be related to the causative agent because of the temperature it can reach; and the extent of the burn is the only predictor of mortality and is associated with postburn survival time. Conclusions. In northeastern Colombia, male and pediatric population have a greater number of burn victims. There is a relationship between burning agent and patients age, were scalds and contact burns mainly involve the younger population. Patients with greater burned surface area have increased risk of death. This information facilitates burn centers to prepare their facilities and organize resources according to the patients they expect to treat. Civil authorities could use this information to design prevention campaigns targeting this population.

Keywords : Burns; Thermal; trauma; Burns epidemiology.

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