Dr Daniel Ricciardello¹, Prof Andrew Holland¹

¹Children’s Hospital At Westmead, ,

Abstract:

Burns continue to be a significant public health issue worldwide, with a significant portion of injuries being sustained by children. In Australia, paediatric burns account for up to 25 000 hospitalisations per year, with children aged 1-5 years having the highest hospitalisation rate.

Scalds have consistently been found to be the most common mechanism of burn in children; particularly in those less than 5 years of age (1, 6, 7). While flame burns have typically been found to the next most common cause, a previous study based on the Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW) Burns Unit (BU) cohort suggested that contact burns had replaced flame burns as the second most common cause of burns in children in Australia. Similarly, a UK study also found that contact burns to be the second most common cause of burns in children. Evidence of this change in the pattern of paediatric burns provided direction to public health awareness and prevention campaigns.

In reviewing the current patterns of paediatric burns, this study aims to highlight any changes, or reaffirm the current literature, in the presentation and management of paediatric burns which could guide public health awareness and burns prevention campaigns.

This study will examine the presentation of paediatric burns. The medical records of children who have been treated for new burns at CHW BU will be retrospectively reviewed. Patients will be included if they have been treated for a new burn over a period from January 2010 – December 2019. This period has been chosen to extend on, and compare to, a previous study which examined paediatric burns presentations at CHW BU from January 2003 and December 2007.

Biography:

Former Burns Registrar at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead