Surgical management and epidemiological trends of pediatric electrical burns

Abstract

Electrical burns are an uncommon yet devastating class of burn injuries. Shriners Hospitals for Children - Boston a pediatric burn center in New England and cares for both domestic and international patients. We utilized our experience over the past 13 years to review surgical management and evaluate historical trends for this unique patient group. A retrospective chart review was conducted on 68 patients aged 0-18 years admitted to our pediatric center with an electrical burn from January 2005 to December 2018. We collected and analyzed data pertaining to patient demographics, burn characteristics, clinical course, and surgical interventions. Our cohort included 31 patients from the US (46%) and 37 transferred from a variety of international countries (54%). The majority of US patients were admitted with low voltage burns (81%), whereas the majority of international patients were admitted with high voltage burns (95%). Acute and reconstructive surgical interventions were performed mainly for high voltage burns (94% and 89%). Based on our experience, epidemiology and surgical intervention varied based on voltage of the burn injury and residence of the patient. We have seen a reduction in US pediatric high voltage injuries over the past two decades, likely due to enhancement of electrical safety. It may be possible to use a similar strategy to reduce the frequency of severe high voltage electrical burn injuries in developing countries.

Keywords: Burns; Electrical; Epidemiology; Pediatric; Reconstruction.