Are We Serving Tea or Scalding Our Children?

Abstract

Ilhan Ciftci, Fatih Kara, Kemal Arslan, Zeynep Altunbas, Adnan Abasiyanik

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate preschool children with major burns under inpatient treatment and to examine the reasons for those burns. Method: We retrospectively studied 255 patients between 0 and 5 years of age who suffered from major burns and who received inpatient treatment in the Burn Unit based on the guidelines of the American Burn Association between 2009 and 2011. The patients’ age, gender, burn location, cause of burn, time to reach a health center after burn, and depth and width of the burn were evaluated. The possibility of a seasonal correlation was investigated as well. Results: Of the patients, 38.4% were female and 61.6% were male. The mean age of the patients was 2.1±1.2 years. The mean burned surface area amounted to 10.8% ±7.4%. The nature of the burns was as follows: scalding in 73.7% (tea in 46.7%, hot water in 25.9%, and vapor in 1.2%), chemical burns in 16.1%, contact burns from hot contact in 5.5%, and flame burns in 4.7%. Conclusion: Most of the burns observed among preschool children occur indoors, with the majority of these burns represented by scalding burns. Most scalding burns arise from splashes of hot tea. In fact, burns associated with hot tea comprise nearly 50% of all burns.