Annals of the MBC - vol. 4 - no 2 - June 1991
PROFILE OF BURN PATIENTS ADMITTED TO
THE PHILIPPINE GENERAL HOSPITAL
Ramirez A.T., Ferreol M.P.V.
Burn Division, Department of
Surgery, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the
Philippines, Manila, Philippines
SUMMARY. This paper is a
profile ' of 14.1 patients of the Bum Unit of the Philippine General Hospital from January
1, 1986 to December 1, 1989. Compared to a previous study covering 1977 to 198 1, there
are more patients belonging to the younger age group (0- 10 years: 36.17% and 11-20:
19.5%, versus 16.3% and 11.5%, respectively). Male preponderance, flame etiology, and
major extent of burns remain essentially the same. Fifty-three percent were home
accidents. Mean percentage of burns was 29.03% and mean age was 20.02% years. Our data
were also compared with figures from some Mediterranean countries.
Materials and Methods
The charts of 14 ' I burn admissions
from January 1, 1986 to December 31, 1989, were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed
according to sex, age, etiology, type and size of burn, place of incident and origin of
patient.
Discussion
There was a male predominance in our
admissions, with a male to female ratio of 1.5 to 1.
The age group with the highest number of patients was 0 to 10 years with 51 patients or
36.17%. The age distribution of th ' is present study compared to our previous data from
1977 to 1981 (2) is completely differqpt, as shown in Tab. 7, which showed the highest
incidence among the 21-30 years age group. No definit ' e explanation can be given for
this difference. Our present figures seem to tell us that more attention should be given
to the younger age grou I ps in burn prevention. The population explosion may also give
rise to more children at risk. Other epiderniologic data are shown in Tab. 8, comparing
the figures of 19 ' 86-1989 with the results of the 1977-1981 study, in which 330 patients
were reviewed.
We appear to have a lower male to female ratio lately, although etiology has essentially
remained the same. We have been receiving bigger bums, the mean percent bum being 29%. As
in the past, we have remained a referral center and other hospitals continue to send
patients to us. There is no other bum unit in Metro Manila and the entire northern island
of Luzon where Manila is located. There is one small 4-bed bum unit in the second biggest
city of the country which is in the middle group of islands and another in the southern
island of Mindanao. Burn patients are cared for also in government and private hospitals,
without bum units. Victims who are employed and are burned while at work are usually
admitted to private hospitals.
Tab. 9 compares our data and the bum experience of countries in the Mediterranean. We
would have liked to present figures from Southeast Asia but a review of th ' e literature
failqd to show similar studies among our neighbors. Male predominance was most evident in
Athens, Greece. In Libya, the classification was different, showing that 70% were adult
females and children of both sexes. The Libyan author pointed out that their women spend a
lot of time cooking in the kitchen.
From the various studies, our mean burn size of 29% of the TBSA appears to be the largest.
The bum unit in Athens claimed that the largest number of bums is in the group of 0% to
20% BSA, numbering 582 out of the total 800 patients.
Scalds Were most frequent in Malta, and Beirut had the same incidence as flame bums in
Valencia, Spain. The incidence of electrical bums in our unit is similar to that in
Ankara, Turkey. Fireworks as a cause of burns were mentioned in the reports from Malta and
Spain. Similarly we have had our share of firecracker injuries, especially, during the New
Year
RESUME Cette étude est un
profil d , es 141 patients hospitalisés chez I'Unité des Brél&s de FHépital
Gén&ral des Philippines dans la période I jany * ier 198é-1 décembre 1989. Par
rapport A une &tude précédente pour la période 1977-1981, il y a un nombre
majeur,de patients dans le groupe des patients plus jeun , es (0-10 ans: é,17%, 11-20
ans: 19,5%, par rapport a 1é,3% et 11,5%, respectivement). La prévalence masculine,
1'étiologie des flaMmes et 1'étendue majeure des brdlures restent plus ou moins
invariées. 53% des accidents se sont produits dans 1'environnement domestique. Le
pourcentage moyen des brOlures était 29,03% et I'dge moyen était 20,02 ans. Nos donnécs
ont été comparées avec celles de certains pays m&diterranéens.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Ariz C.P., Moncrief J,A., Pruitt B.A.: "Bums: a
Team Approach", W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1979.
- Ramirez A.T., Garcia A.R., Danguilan J.L.S.: Burn
care in a developing country. Bulletin Clinical Review of Bum Injuries, I (IV): 58-59,
1984.
- Jiz F., Kaddoura L, Sana M.: Statistical
retrospective analysis of bum patients admitted to AUBMC between 1982-87. Annals of the
Mediterranean Bums Club, 2: 8-11, 1989.
- Benito Rcuz J., Navarro Monzonis A., Baena Montilla
P.: An epiderniologic study of bums. Annals of the Mediterranean Bums Club, 3: 170-176,
1990.
- Iliopoulou E., Lohaitis A., Poulikakos L., Bei A.:
Statistical and epidemiological data of 8Q0 bum patients in a 5-year period. Annals of the
Mediterranean Bums Club, 3: 116-118, 1990.
- Haberal M., Kaynaroglu V., Oner Z., Gulay H.,
Bayraktar U., Bilgin N.: Epidemiololgy of electrical burns in our centre. Annals of the
Mediterranean Bums Club, 2: 14-16, 1989
- Taguri S.: Incidence, management and prevention of
bums in Libya. Annals of the Mediterranean Burns Club, 2: 208-209, 1989.
- Swain C.: Facilities for treating Burns in Malta.
Annals of the Mediterranean Burns Club, 3: 43-45, 1990.
|