Negligent and Inflicted Burns in Children

Zachary J Collier; Michelle C Roughton; Lawrence J Gottlieb

doi:10.1016/j.cps.2017.02.022

Negligent and Inflicted Burns in Children

Clin Plast Surg. 2017 Jul;44(3):467-477. doi: 10.1016/j.cps.2017.02.022.

Authors

Zachary J Collier¹, Michelle C Roughton², Lawrence J Gottlieb³

Affiliations

¹ Biological Sciences Division, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, 924 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address: zcollier@uchicago.edu.
² Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 7040 Burnett-Womack, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
³ Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Room J-641, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

PMID: 28576235
DOI: 10.1016/j.cps.2017.02.022

Abstract

One in 4 American children have been abused and up to 5 children die per day from abuse. Children are vulnerable and error or lag in diagnosis may lead to further injury or death. In contrast, misdiagnosis of abuse is also unacceptable. Burns are a leading cause of abuse-related fatality and determination of cause can be difficult. It is critical that clinicians distinguish between burns of abuse (inflicted) and neglect and those received accidentally (noninflicted). Discordant narratives, use of alcohol and illicit substances, characteristics of the burn wound, and concomitant injury are all red flags for inflicted and negligent burns.

Keywords: Child abuse; Inflicted burn; Maltreatment burn; Negligent burn; Noninflicted burn.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Burns / etiology*
Child Abuse / diagnosis*
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Infant
Male