The association between burn and trauma severity and in-hospital complications

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between in-hospital complications and burn and trauma severity, inhalation injury, length of intensive care unit and hospital stay, and mortality in burned patients.

Method: This observational and retrospective study included 68 burn patients hospitalized in a university hospital located in São Paulo, Brazil. The severity of the burn injury and trauma were measured by means of Abbreviated Injury Scale and the Injury Severity Score, respectively. Thecomplications were considered as a dependent variable. The statistical analysis for continuous variables was performed using the Student's t or the Mann-Whitney test and for categorical variables the Chi-square test, Fisher's Exact or Verisimilitude Ratio test, considering a significance level of 5%.

Results: The majority (60.3%) of patients had complications, and among them, those with infections were the most frequent (70.7%). Burned patients with complications had higher burn injury severity, were hospitalized for longer and their mortality was higher. Cardiovascular complications were associated with severe burns and mortality; infectious ones with a larger length of hospitalization.

Conclusion: Complications are frequent in patients with severe burns and inhalation injuries, increasing length of hospital stay and mortality. Burn studies measuring severity of thermal and inhalation injuries and other associated traumas allow to expand the analysis of burned patients.

Keywords: Burns; Complications; Emergency nursing; Trauma; Trauma severity indices.