ATTEMPTED SUICIDE BY SELF-IMMOLATION IN TUNISIA: 11 YEARS AFTER THE REVOLUTION

Self-immolation represents a relatively frequent cause of burn, especially in Tunisia after the revolution, with high costs at the individual and societal level. In this retrospective study, we report epidemiological, clinical and evolutionary characteristics of burns by immolation at the CTB of Tunis over a period of 10 years. The study involved 755 patients over the 10 years. The mean age was 33.38 years with a sex ratio of 4.5:1 (618 M/ 137F). Half of the patients (51%) were single, 2/3 (74.3%) had an unfavourable or medium socioeconomic level, 35.8% were unemployed. The educational level was secondary in 46% of cases and primary in 33.9%. Secondary transfer was noted in 53.6% of cases with agreement in 57.8%. The patients came from all regions of Tunisia with a predominance of those from the Tunis area (37.8%). One third of our patients had a psychiatric history, with the notion of a previous suicide attempt in 5.1% of cases. Alcoholism and/or drug addiction was reported in 17.7% of cases. The act of self-immolation was performed in a public place in 59.2% of cases. TBSA was 41.48%. Burns were deep in 66.2% of cases. Facial involvement was noted in 90% of patients. ABSI was 7.35 and Baux index 78 +/- 50. The average length of stay was 17.64 days. 2/3 of patients (72.1%) required intubation and mechanical ventilation. The mortality rate was 57.2%.