PATTERN OF BURNS AT LADY READING HOSPITAL, PESHAWAR

Objective: To describe the pattern of burn in Plastic Surgery and Burn Unit Lady Reading Hospital. Methodology: This one year (January 2009 to December 2009) descriptive study was carried out at Plastic surgery and Burn Unit Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. Manual and computerized data comprising epidemiological variables of all the patients presenting with acute burn was recorded. Results were analyzed with SPSS 15. Results: During one year study period, 758 patients were included. Male to female ratio was 1.5: 1. Mean age was 13.59 years (Std. deviation 14.162). Median age was 7 years. Mean Total Body Surface Area (TBSA) burn was 14.53 %. Home was the site of accident in most cases (88.1 %). There was no statistical significance in gender and percentage of burn area (p value: 0.363). Scald and flame burn were the cause of burn in 91.2 % of the cases. 519 (68.5%) of the patients were from Peshawar district. Majority of burn victims (59.2%) were below 10 year of age. Conclusion: Majority of burn accidents occur at home and are preventable. Scald injury is the most common cause of burn resulting in two third of the total burns. Majority of the patients are children.