Severe thermal burn in Lubumbashi: Descriptive study at the major burn center of the Sendwe Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Burns are a common trauma of daily life, however serious burns are rare and can be life-threatening. The consequences of the tragedy represented by burns on a professional, family, social and economic level compromise the reintegration of burns victims who are sometimes severely disabled and who’s the future often remains jeopardized. Patients and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection, on severe thermal burns in the surgical department of Jason Sendwe particularly in the burn center of Lubumbashi over a period of eighteen months, from January 2022 to July 2023. The sampling was exhaustive for convenience, including all cases of severe burn injury that occurred during our study period. The study population include 52 patients hospitalized and treated in above mention hospital for severe thermal burn. Statistical analyzes were performed using Epi info 7.2.2.6 software and Microsoft Excel 2019. Results: We collected 52 files. Serious burns constituted 9.11% of all surgical cases. 62% of serious burn patients were male with a sex ratio of 1.6. 28.85% of serious burn patients were under 10 years old, and the average age in our sample was 23±16 years old. The upper limb was the region of the body most affected by burns with 92.31% of cases and the majority of patients, 54.77% of them had superficial second-degree burns. This study revealed that 38.46% of patients had a good outcome and the infections were present in 25% of patients. Conclusion: Serious burns in Lubumbashi represent a real public health problem due to their frequency and mortality. Health education and the establishment of means of prevention would be a great benefit in limiting the major consequences of serious skin burn in Lubumbashi.