Burn deaths down from 1989 to 2017 in the US

(HealthDay)—Burn injury survival has dramatically increased over the past 30 years, according to a study published online March 9 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Karel D Capek, M.D., from Shriners Hospitals for Children in Galveston, Texas, and colleagues assessed factors, including age, percent of the total body surface area burned, presence of inhalation injury, length of stay, and survival status, for all new burn admissions between 1989 and 2017.

The researchers found that over the study period there were 10,384 consecutive new burn admissions, with 355 mortalities (median age, 13 years; median percent total body surface area burned, 11 percent). There was a significant decrease in observed mortality data versus previous years (P < 0.0001), and a 2 percent reduction per year in mortality during the three decades.

"The reduction in mortality over time may be attributed to successful changes in standard of care protocols in the burn center that improved the outlook for burned individuals, including protocols for management of inhalation injury, nutrition, resuscitation, and early excision and grafting," the authors write.

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