Profile of burn patients at Mankweng Hospital, Polokwane, Limpopo Province, South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2022.v112i11b.16835Keywords:
BurnsAbstract
Background. Burn injuries are a common cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. In all societies, burns continue to constitute a
medical, psychological and economic problem. Burn wounds are one of the most common surgical emergencies leading to hospitalisation.
Objectives. To understand the profile of patients with burn injuries presenting to Mankweng Hospital in Polokwane, Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Methods. This was a retrospective study using a descriptive quantitative design to analyse the profile of all patients admitted consecutively to the Mankweng Hospital burns unit from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020.
Results. During the study period, a majority of males (n=412; 56.7%) were admitted, indicating a significant sex difference.
Conclusion. Children aged <5 years were found to be more affected than any other age group. Males were more affected than their female counterparts. Scalds and flame burns were the most common burn injuries.
References
Lee CJ, Mahendraraj K, Houng A, et al. Pediatric burns: A single institution retrospective review of incidence, etiology, and outcomes in 2273 burn patients (1995 - 2013). J Burn Care Res 2016;37(6):e579-e585. https://doi.org/10.1097/BCR.0000000000000362
Yin S. Chemical and common burns in children. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 2017;56(5_suppl):8S-12S.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922817706975
Sahu SA, Agrawal K, Patel PK. Scald burn, a preventable injury: Analysis of 4306 patients from a major tertiary care center. Burns 2016;42(8):1844-1849. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2016.06.022 4. Strobel AM, Fey R. Emergency care of pediatric burns. Emerg Med Clin North Am 2018;36(2):441-
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emc.2017.12.011
Hemeda M, Maher A, Mabrouk A. Epidemiology of burns admitted to Ain Shams University Burns
Unit, Cairo, Egypt. Burns 2003;29(4):353-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0305-4179(03)00044-5
Frans FA, Keli SO, Maduro AE. The epidemiology of burns in a medical center in the Caribbean.
Burns 2008;34(8):1142-1148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2008.05.013
Shields BJ, Comstock RD, Fernandez SA, Xiang H, Smith GA. Healthcare resource utilisation and
epidemiology of pediatric burn-associated hospitalisations, United States, 2000. J Burn Care Res
;28(6):811-826. https://doi.org/10.1097/BCR.0b013e3181599b51
El-Badawy A, Mabrouk AR. Epidemiology of childhood burns in the burn unit of Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. Burns 1998;24(8):728-732. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-
(98)00097-7
Fernández-Morales E, Gálvez-Alcaraz L, Fernández-Crehuet-Navajas J, Gómez-Gracia E, Salinas- Martínez JM. Epidemiology of burns in Malaga, Spain. Burns 1997;23(4):323-332. https://doi. org/10.1016/S0305-4179(96)00136-2
Peck MD. Epidemiology of burns throughout the world. Part II: intentional burns in adults. Burns 2012;38(5):630-637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2011.12.028
American Burn Association. Burn center referral criteria. http://ameriburn.org/public-resources/ burn-center-referral-criteria/ (accessed 16 June 2022).
American Burn Association. National Burn Repository: Report of data from 1999 - 2008. Version 5.0. Chicago, Ill.: ABA, 2009.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 LM Leso-Rangwato, MMZU Bhuiyan, TT Netshiongolwe

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Licensing Information
The SAMJ is published under an Attribution-Non Commercial International Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License. Under this license, authors agree to make articles available to users, without permission or fees, for any lawful, non-commercial purpose. Users may read, copy, or re-use published content as long as the author and original place of publication are properly cited.
Exceptions to this license model is allowed for UKRI and research funded by organisations requiring that research be published open-access without embargo, under a CC-BY licence. As per the journals archiving policy, authors are permitted to self-archive the author-accepted manuscript (AAM) in a repository.
Publishing Rights
Authors grant the Publisher the exclusive right to publish, display, reproduce and/or distribute the Work in print and electronic format and in any medium known or hereafter developed, including for commercial use. The Author also agrees that the Publisher may retain in print or electronic format more than one copy of the Work for the purpose of preservation, security and back-up.