The care of the burned child and its relation to hospital stay

Abstract

For assessing the relationship between the length of time at the hospital and patient care regarding a) fluid administration, b) lesion attention, and c) nutritional support, 30 children from 0 to 11 y.o. of the Burn Unit, Hospital Universitario del Valle, Cali, Colombia, were studied. The findings showed that most burned children were in the age group of 0-2 years old; 80% of the burns were partial thickness caused by hot fluids, oil, and gasoline; fluid calculation and administration were incorrect in 62% and 79.3% of the subjects, respectively. Silver sulfadine and coagulation methods were used for wound management in 66.6% of the cases; 33% of the wounds got infected. Only 44.8% of the children received a hyperproteic-hypercaloric diet. Most children were hospitalized from 9 to 16 days.