Epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients with burn complications and influence between 2016 and 2021: a multi-center retrospective study.

Background: Currently, domestic and international studies on post-burn complications are limited to single diseases, and a single center or on a small scale. Therefore, this large-scale study aimed to describe the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric burns and their complications in China to notify the occurrence of burn complications.

Methods: This study included 11,092 pediatric burn medical records of Futang Research Center of Pediatric Development (FRCPD) database between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2021. General and hospitalization information for patients with the first diagnosis of "T20-T32" [according to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, burns and corrosions of external body surface, specified by site (T20-T25), burns and corrosions confined to eye and internal organs (T26-T28), burns and corrosions of multiple and unspecified body regions (T29-T32)] was extracted.

Results: This retrospective, large-scale, and multi-center study included pediatric burn cases in the FRCPD database. The prevalence of respiratory infections was 5.5%, shock was 2.8%, hypoproteinemia was 1.3%. In terms of age, children <1 year' incidence of respiratory infections and anemia was 6.9% and 3.2% (P<0.001). The rates of myocardial damage and esophageal stenosis in children aged 15-18 years were 18.8%. For burn causes, respiratory infection caused by hydrothermal scald was 3.7%, flame was 14.7% and chemical was 26.6%. Myocardial damage caused by electric was 8.5%. For burns in the trunk, the proportion causing shock and hypoproteinemia were 24.4% and 10.5%, respectively.

Conclusions: Boys, 1-3 years, and children whose hospitals in urban areas were susceptible to burns from hydrothermal scalds. Children aged 4-7 years were susceptible to shock due to flame burns involving limbs or multiple parts. In terms of age, children <1 year had the highest incidence of respiratory infections and anemia among all age groups. The rates of myocardial damage and esophageal stenosis in children aged 15-18 years were highest in different age groups. From burn causes, myocardial damage was the most common complications caused by electric. From burn area, the most common areas for shock and hypoproteinemia were the trunk.