Four years of burn injuries in a Red Cross hospital in Afghanistan

This study examines the epidemiology and mortality of patients admitted with burns to a Red Cross hospital in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2000. Three hundred and eighty-eight cases were reviewed retrospectively (57% male, 43% female) with a median age of 8 years. Sixty-three percent were children. Scalds (44%) were the commonest injury followed by fire (37%). The median total body surface area burned (TBSA) was 15%. Forty-six percent of the patients required surgical debridement and 11% underwent delayed skin grafting. Overall, median duration of stay was 7 days. The mortality rate was 16% (M:F, 1.1:1) and fire was the commonest cause of fatal burns. The median TBSA of fatal burn was 40%. There were no survivors with burns greater than 45% TBSA. Multiple organ failure and sepsis were the cause for most of the deaths.