335 Contact Burns:A Retrospective Analysis of Etiology and Demographics

Abstract Introduction Contact burns are a common type of burn injury seen frequently in the inpatient setting. They are responsible for up to 9% of all burns in the American Burn Association National Burn Repository, making them the third leading etiology for hospital burn admissions. This study aims to explore risk factors and possible prevention strategies for patients with contact burns admitted to a regional burn center. Methods Following IRB approval, burn registry data was reviewed for all individuals admitted with a contact burn from January 2008 through December 2017. Data collection included sex, age, etiology of contact burn injury, burn size as % TBSA (total body surface area), and length of inpatient hospital stay (LOS). Results 192 patients met study criteria for etiology consistent with a contact burn with 68% male and 32% female. Data were categorized by age (see table). Conclusions In this single-center cohort, contact burns affected 2.7% of all admissions during a 10-year review period. The most common age range was 1-9 years (47%). Injury caused by contact with a cooking surface/cookware was the leading etiology for all age groups except those over 60 years. Most contact burns were less than 1% TBSA burn size and required less than 4 days of inpatient hospitalization. Applicability of Research to Practice Understanding the etiology of injury relative to age is a key step in prevention outreach education.