Importance of a Dedicated Burns Unit: A Comparative Study on The Clinical Outcome of Burns Patients with and without a Burns Unit

Abstract

Background: Burns is an endemic health hazard in a country like India rough estimate of the total number of burn admission in India with a population of over 1 billion, is 7,00,000 to 8,00,000 annually. This high incidence makes it an endemic health hazard. Burns speciality units are being established for dedicated burns care.

Objectives: this study was to done to compare the outcomes between patients admitted to a dedicated burns unit and a general care unit.

Methods: Record based cross sectional study was conducted analysing the clinical outcome of patients admitted with burns from June 2014 to December 2016. The study compared the morbidity and mortality rates of patients admitted with burns in Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram before and following the introduction of an exclusive Burns ICU care facility. Data was entered in Excel sheets and analysed using SPSS software.

Results: ICU admissions were most common among females (56.4% ie 128 patients). The commonest age group was between 20-40 years. Majority of the burns victims suffered from accidental burns with 65% requiring ICU care and 62.4% admitted to the wards. The most common cause of burns was fire accounting for 70-80%. In patients with 40-60% burns there was a significant difference in outcome with better mortality when treated in a dedicated burns ICU in comparison to the patients treated in a non-burns speciality unit, with chi square test giving a P value of 0.0306.

Conclusion: A burns unit with Dedicated ICU care improves the morbidity and mortality among burns patients. In the ICU with minimal facilities itself, Patients sustaining burns of 40-60% TBSA, significant improvement in survival is noted. An upgraded ICU with good intensive care will surely improve the survival rate of burn victims