Retrospective analysis of burn injuries caused by hot milk in 159 pediatric patients: 14 years of experience in a burn unit

Backround: The aim of this study was to investigate the hot milk burns among the pediatric patients and to compare our experiences with similar studies in the literature.
Methods: A 14-year retrospective study was conducted on 159 pediatric patients with hot milk burn who hospitalized at the Burn Unit of Erciyes University Medical Faculty.
Results: There were 81 male and 78 female patients with a male to female ratio of 1.03: 1. The mean age of the patients was 2.7±1.6 years. The initial injury was immersion in 59.7% of the patients and spillage in 40.3%. The mean burned body surface area of the patients was 18.6±10.8%. Twenty-two percent of the patients had moderate and 78% had major burn trauma. Forty-nine percent of the patients received burn wound debridement and reconstruction with autoskin grafts. Our burn unit’s mortality rate was 1.5% among 542 pediatric patients with hot water and 5.6% among 159 pediatric patients with hot milk burn during the same period respectively.
Conclusion: Hot milk burns should be considered as separately from other hot liquid burns which do not contain fat such as water, tea and coffee. Physical and chemical properties of milk because of its high content of fat give rise to more tissue destruction, increased morbidity and mortality.

159 pediatrik hastada sýcak süt nedeniyle görülen yanýk travmasýnýn retrospektif analizi: bir yanýk ünitesindeki 14 yýllýk tecrübe

Amaç: Bu çalýþmada; pediatrik hastalarda gözlenen sýcak süt yanýklarýnýn incelenmesi ve elde edilen verilerin literatürle karþýlaþtýrýlmasý amaçlanmýþtýr.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Erciyes Üniversitesi Týp Fakültesi Yanýk Ünitesi’nde hospitalize edilmiþ 159 pediatrik hasta üzerinde 14 yýllýk geriye dönük bir çalýþma yapýlmýþtýr.
Bulgular: Hastalarýn 81’i erkek ve 79’u kýz olup erkek: kýz oraný 1.03: 1’di. Hastalarýn yaþ ortalamasý 2.7±1.6’ydý. Hastalarýn %59.7’si imersiyon, %40.3’ü ise sütün üzerine dökülmesi/sýçramasý sonucu yaralanmýþtý. Hastalarýn ortalama yanýk yüzey alaný %18.6±10.8’di. Hastalarýn %22’sinde orta derecede yanýk travmasý varken; %78’inde ciddi yanýk travmasý mevcuttu. Hastalarýn %49’unun tedavisi debritman ve otoderi grefti ile gerçekleþtirildi. Yanýk ünitemizde ayný dönem içerisinde hospitalize edilmiþ 542 sýcak su yanýklý hastanýn mortalite oraný %1.5 iken, 159 sýcak süt yanýklý hastanýn mortalite oraný ise %5.6’ydý.
Sonuç: Sýcak süt yanýklarýnýn, su, kahve ve çay gibi içeriðinde yað olmayan sýcak sývýlar nedeniyle meydana gelen yanýklarýndan ayrý olarak deðerlendirilmesi gerekmektedir. Sütün sahip olduðu yüksek yað içeriði nedeniyle kazanmýþ olduðu fiziksel ve kimyasal özellikler dokularda daha fazla tahribata neden olmakta ve bu nedenle mortalite ve morbidite oranlarý daha fazla olmaktadýr.