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

  1. Ariz C.P., Moncrief J,A., Pruitt B.A.: "Bums: a Team Approach", W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1979.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Benito Rcuz J., Navarro Monzonis A., Baena Montilla P.: An epiderniologic study of bums. Annals of the Mediterranean Bums Club, 3: 170-176, 1990.
  5. 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.
  6. 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
  7. Taguri S.: Incidence, management and prevention of bums in Libya. Annals of the Mediterranean Burns Club, 2: 208-209, 1989.
  8. Swain C.: Facilities for treating Burns in Malta. Annals of the Mediterranean Burns Club, 3: 43-45, 1990.



 

Contact Us
mbcpa@medbc.com