A Multi-institutional Study Evaluating Pediatric Burn Injuries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Part of COVID-19 Pandemic Impact 4 items

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Meera Kotagal

During the COVID-19 pandemic, children were out of school due to Stay-at-Home Orders. The objective of this study was to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the incidence of burn injuries in children. Eight Level I Pediatric Trauma Centers participated in a retrospective study evaluating children <18 years old with traumatic injuries defined by the National Trauma Data Bank. Patients with burn injuries were identified by ICD-10 codes. Historical controls from March to September 2019 ("Control" cohort) were compared to patients injured after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic from March to September 2020 ("COVID" cohort). A total of 12,549 pediatric trauma patients were included, of which 916 patients had burn injuries. Burn injuries increased after the start of the pandemic (COVID 522/6711 [7.8%] vs Control 394/5838 [6.7%], P = .03). There were no significant differences in age, race, insurance status, burn severity, injury severity score, intent or location of injury, and occurrence on a weekday or weekend between cohorts. There was an increase in flame burns (COVID 140/522 [26.8%] vs Control 75/394 [19.0%], P = .01) and a decrease in contact burns (COVID 118/522 [22.6%] vs Control 112/394 [28.4%], P = .05). More patients were transferred from an outside institution (COVID 315/522 patients [60.3%] vs Control 208/394 patients [52.8%], P = .02), and intensive care unit length of stay increased (COVID median 3.5 days [interquartile range 2.0-11.0] vs Control

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Article · Jan 2023 · 1 min read

In brief

Multi-center study of 12,549 pediatric trauma patients reveals burn injuries increased from 6.7% to 7.8% during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, with flame burns rising significantly while contact burns decreased. More patients required transfer and longer ICU stays during the pandemic period.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.

Meera Kotagal

Statements in this article

Burn injuries increased during the COVID-19 pandemic period from 6.7% (394/5838) in 2019 to 7.8% (522/6711) in 2020 (P = .03).
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Flame burns increased during the pandemic from 19.0% (75/394) in 2019 to 26.8% (140/522) in 2020 (P = .01).
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Contact burns decreased during the pandemic from 28.4% (112/394) in 2019 to 22.6% (118/522) in 2020 (P = .05).
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More patients were transferred from outside institutions during the pandemic, increasing from 52.8% (208/394) in 2019 to 60.3% (315/522) in 2020 (P = .02).
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Intensive care unit length of stay increased during the pandemic from a median of 2.0 days (interquartile range not fully specified) in 2019 to 3.5 days (interquartile range 2.0-11.0) in 2020.
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No significant differences were found between cohorts in age, race, insurance status, burn severity, injury severity score, intent or location of injury, or occurrence on weekday versus weekend.
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