8 YEARS EXPERIENCE OF A REGIONAL BURNS UNIT IN SAUDI-ARABIA - CLINICAL AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC ASPECTS

A retrospective analysis of 435 consecutive admissions to a regional b urns unit over an 8-year period is presented. The majority were domest ic accidents, while a few were suicidal and two were due to child abus e. Scalds were commoner than flame barns, 70.6 per cent were children under 12 years, 12.4 per cent had >40 per cent TBSA affected, 66.9 per cent were deep partial or full thickness burns, 24.4 per cent had sig ns of shock an admission, 13.6 per cent had smoke inhalation injury. I n spite of these known adverse factors the overall outcome was satisfa ctory, with a case fatality rate of 7.4 per cent and a residual disabi lity rate of 10.8 per cent. Good initial resuscitation, a low infectio n rate (18.4 per cent) and the ready availability of appropriate surgi cal intervention (35.6 per cent), with good intensive care support, co uld account for the satisfactory outcome. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science for Ltd for ISBI.